Harmony in Green and Gold, day 1

Last weekend I taught a still life painting workshop in my studio. This was one of the two still lifes available to paint. The next morning I decided to paint it for myself. I had less than 2 hours to paint that day but decided to get started before the fruit got too old. I heard it as a piano sonata, Mozart. The stem bowl with grapes and a pear were the first movement, allegro moderato. Cheerful and brisk but not too fast. The golden bosc and lively green grapes set the theme for the piece. The lace will be the second movement, adagio. Slow, delicate, pretty. Finally the silver pitcher finishes the piece with a flashy Presto finale. Rapid brushwork, reflecting themes of the earlier movements, the lace and pear reappearing on the underside of the bowl of the pitcher. The books and dark green cloth are played on the left hand, low rich dark notes holding the whole piece together. Beautiful. I usually set up a still life then jump in and sight read it all the way through. While working on the students paintings however I had a chance to practice the difficult passages.....