The Open Melon

18 x 20 Oil on Linen

The Open Melon is not a painting about an open melon. It is a conceptual piece that explores the use of warm and cool colors in a painting. When I am painting landscapes I find myself repeating a pattern, the cool blues and grays in the sky dominate the top half of the painting and warm earth tones prevail on the bottom half. So I decided to see what this arrangement might look like in a still life. Artists have always thought this way. Whistler titled his famous painting of his mother Arrangement in Grey and Black. Rembrandt could have called his portrait of Jan Six an arrangement in red and black. You can find other arrangements in Monet's water lilies or Turner's late seascapes, Morandi's still lifes or a Hals portrait. Perhaps Gilbert and Sullivan said it best “Things are seldom what they seem, skim milk masquerades as cream”.....