Painting Outside the Box

Last month at the SMAL (St Michaels Art League) meeting we were presented with a new painting opportunity.  There were two boxes filled with 'things.'  We were to take a box home and use 80% of its contents to paint a picture.  We could arrange the 'things' in any way we wished and use any medium we wished.  At the end of the meeting one of the boxes had not been taken, so I thought, why not give it a try?

I opened the box and looked at its contents... a ball of yarn; a small round vase; a taller interestingly shaped bottle; a small wooden berry basket; a pine cone; a large piece of blue material (for a backdrop, I guessed); a small piece of glass shaped like a seashell; and some plastic flowers... tulips and some smaller white bunches.

Oh my... what would I do with that stuff?  I got out my background frame and draped the material over it.  I tried various arrangements and different lighting...  Everything seemed to fall flat!  I couldn't get excited about any of it.

I looked back at the box and re-read the directions for this project. "Still Life Box" it said. Okay, use 80% of what was in there AND you can add two things of your own.  Hmmm... maybe that would help. I started looking around for something to add. Again, no excitement...so I just left it all there and decided to go at it again the next day. (sometimes that helps - to just let it go for awhile)

I awoke the next day with an idea.  What I really love doing is painting children.  What if I painted a child looking at all the stuff?

Then a little research...  a 'still life' painting does not contain anything live in it. I checked the directions again - no where did it say 'paint a still life painting.'  It did say, be creative - stretch your imagination and use the box contents.

So, I began by using the little girl at the pool - see blog from February 16. I changed her swim suit to a pair of shorts and a top. I rearranged the box contents. And voila! There she is...looking at some of the stuff.

How many of the mentioned objects can YOU find?