This painting has been a long time in the making. Our home is always had at least one goldfish bowl, and I've been captivated by the beauty of fantails as they circle through their fantastical world of reflections.

I moved my two black moors from the kitchen into the studio a couple weeks back. I spent a few days playing with different background fabrics, various sized shells, and other oddments. I bounced light off different walls, the ceiling, colored boards. Finally I found a setup that captured my fascination with the goldfish, yet retained a fresh and whimsical quality matching my vintage toy still life paintings.

The image at the top of this blog is the work in process right now. Working title "Fish out of Water," the painting is 26" x 18" on gallery stretched canvas.

I am concentrating on capturing a limited number of values at this point, establishing the weight of the forms and placing them firmly within their space on the canvas.

I also want the light to feel tangible, and that has been a tricky, as this setup is a high contrast one by nature, and therefore the light itself becomes more transient, and those value shifts aren't really value shifts at all, but color temperature changes.

I'll continue working on this painting in preparation for a March exhibition. I'm also finessing a handful of smaller paintings that will be going to the art show held in conjunction with the Grand National Rodeo Championships near San Francisco California in April. And I continue to paint the dog-a-days, which are now booked into March 2009.

I already have my next still life setup - a couple of hand carved wooden vintage horses that were once children's toys, but have seen better days. They definately have that "Velveteen Rabbit" feel to them. I'm excited to start that piece, once I get these fish out of my system!!

A Very Serious Still Life

I received a number of inquiries in the last few days about where I find my inspirations and how I keep going. Besides in all the faces and personalities I get to profile as part of the Painting a Dog a Day project and my daily (strong) dose of coffee, I find them everywhere around me.

• The golden maple leaves dancing right outside my kitchen window.


• My kids' first smile each day (which comes hopefully before their first tear).


• The sound of a dear friend's voice on the phone.


• The way Finnigan's nubbin of a tail glides underneath his skin.


• The purr of my black cat, not just the sound, but the feel of it against my chest.


• The smell of a wet painting.

I'm sure we all have triggers that keep us going - those are just a few. I make sure I am surrounded by handfuls of them, all the time. And for those days when it's tough to get into the studio, I've found a couple of no fail motivators:

• The Nutcracker soundtrack, no matter the season.


• And The Barber of Seville (kill the rabbit..... kill the rabbit....) The right music can almost always get the job done!


• Browsing through Julian Merrow-Smith's website (http://www.shiftinglight.com/) and dreaming of being able to one day paint like him.


• A visit to our local yarn shop, where I can simply sit amongst the rows of colored wools.
  The smell of freshly baked brownies or cookies.


• A brisk walk around the neighborhood, following Finn's nubbin and prance, breathing in the air, listening to the birds/crickets/frogs/silence (when snow is freshly falling)

Here's a bonus painting - one I couldn't help but do. My latest inspiration, you might say.

Yesterday I looked up from the easel and spied a row of puppets carefully lined up by one of my kids, perfectly centered in an unexpected shaft of sunlight. They were brilliantly colored and terribly humorous when visualized as still life objects. It was way more fun than painting pitchers and creamers and ghourds (sorry, Vianna, if you are reading this!!). This guy is the first of a number of lighthearted studies I'll do in the weeks to come - painting something saturated in humor and color was a great diversion!

So I give you "ARGH!! (Puppet #1)," 8" square (larger than life), acrylic on canvasboard, $180. Imagine this guy framed up and hung in a cubicle/office. Or in a child's room. Or even hung overtop a mirror. He will definately brighten up a special corner somewhere. Inquiries to ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com .


Thanks, as always, for looking.
And for sharing these paintings with your friends and family,
Be back tomorrow!
Kim

Kimberly Kelly Santini
http://www.turtledovedesigns.com/
distinctive pet portraits
& 4-legged paintings

http://www.paintingadogaday.com/
come. sit. stay.
enjoy the art.