Still lifes are invitations to explore the extraordinary in the ordinary and celebrate the beauty of small things. The small things at the center of this piece are an apple called "Envy" and a little Graniteware teapot. "Envy" has been associated with green at least since Shakespeare, and the relationship between a thing and the name(s) by which we know it has been in play even longer. Apple red is not at all monochrome, as anyone who has ever taken a moment to look at an apple knows, and its emergence out of green in the ripening of most apples might inspire us to join Wittgenstein in dancing around red and green even without the name. The red of this apple is a rich interplay of blue and yellow with red that -- together with the name -- presents us with everything we need for a rainbow.
The painting is watercolor on 140 lb cold pressed paper made with 100% cotton fiber. As in most of my watercolor paintings, I have taken a page from an Arches block, dampened thoroughly with a wet cloth. Dampening the page heightens the interplay of paint and paper and takes the flow of pigment out of my hands, imparting a ghostly (some might say impressionistic) quality. The painting began with two fields of color, one green and one red. As I worked with the green field, I looked for the teapot; and as I worked with the red field, I looked for the apple. The teapot emerged in a few strokes of the brush while the paper was still quite damp. The apple emerged more slowly, in layers; and the lines became sharper as the paper dried.
The point is that the object of the painting is not outside in the world or inside in my mind or yours but (between you and me) in the work we do in those fields.
