hile my still-lifes follow in the footsteps of the great masters of that genre, Chardin, Fantin-Latour and Menendez,many of my still-lifes are both innovative and unique, qualities that are often missed simply because of the classical nature of my style. I have experimented with the genre over many years, painting literally hundreds of Still-Lifes from the very elaborate (see "African Daisy") to the simplest (see "A Knife on a Basket.") Perhaps the most original - and certainly the most popular, I receive more requests for these than any other specific thing I paint, except perhaps for portraits - are the small jewel-like compositions known as "The Worship Series," small (6 X 6 inch) panels on which I really concentrate on one particular piece or bunch of fruit. I concentrate microscopically on the fruit, yet at the same time paint it in a very "painterly" manner, as opposed to just recording it as a botanical study. In fact, they are so life-like people often tell me they feel they could eat them. Also, even on this small scale, I have even found it possible sometimes to make these works surreal, and that I enjoy particularly.
While it is my wish to show as much of my work as possible, I have painted so many still-lifes over the years that I can only show a very small number. So what I have tried to do is choose as wide a range of compositions, or ways of approaching the subject, as I could, at the same time trying to avoid too many of the Still-Sifes already shown in my book.
I am still hoping to find a publisher interested in publishing a book exclusively on the subject of my Still-Lifes; as an, avid collector of books I believe it would make a most beautiful - and popular - book.
