Friday, October 1, 2010

Flotilla



This work-in-progress is a piece that has been in my head for a long time. I often feature old pitchers, creamers, tea and coffee pots... basically anything with a spout... in my still lifes. When I asked my mom several months ago about borrowing some gravy boats to use as "models", she told me a little story that inspired this piece. What happened was this. My mom likes to display interesting and beautiful things, create impromptu floral arrangements, and generally come up with new ways to showcase heirlooms and thrift store finds. She had just finished attractively setting up her assortment of gravy boats on an antique oak cabinet one day, when my dad walked in and said, "What's with the flotilla?" So, here is my Flotilla. I will smile every time I look at this piece, imagining that moment, hearing my father's voice and humor, seeing my mom's spontaneous creativity and her grin at his silliness. Love.

All right. I've had a little break for tears. I miss my dad a lot.


Anyway! Set up on a blue-gray silk sea, these six gravy boats from my my mother's collection are on their way... somewhere. A flotilla under the parsley and nasturtium flag.

(20"x7", colored pencil on Pastelbord)

2 comments:

Unknown said...

How do you accomplish so much so quickly? This is another amazing piece, so soon after the cherry cup! Wonderful! I love your style.

Elizabeth A Patterson said...

Thank you, Katherine!
About getting things done quickly... having a deadline helps a lot! I actually feel like it takes me a really long time to finish a piece. This one is still in-progress, so it technically doesn't count yet!