The Pink Toque - Painting by Sarah Myers

The Pink Toque, Sarah Myers
2019

   She faces us directly, her eyes sparkling like the rich jewellery ornamenting her sinuous neck. A large aqua-green collar wraps her warmly and a pink satin toque hat sits perched elegantly on her head. The canvas, even with its deep, intense red, recedes from woman's poised presence, her confidence filling the entire picture. This work was painted toward the end of 2019.

The Pink Toque, detail of face.  Sarah Myers.

The Pink Toque, detail of necklace.  Sarah Myers.

The Pink Toque.  Close-up of face.  Sarah Myers, 2019

The Pink Toque, detail of mouth.  Sarah Myers.

The Pink Toque, detail of eyes.  Sarah Myers.

The Green Flower - Painting by Sarah Myers

The Green Flower, Sarah Myers
Acrylic on canvas, 2019

She glances downward gently, lips smiling at some pleasant, quiet thought.  Long, simple lines form the shapes, head elegantly poised on the neck with its graceful curve.  At the top, a little burst of acid-green marks the bloom she wears pinned in her hair, a bright hue which stops and accentuates the lengthy contours creating the rest of the image.  She is surrounded by a warm atmosphere of rose-pink and vibrant orange bordering on brown.  Behind her, blue shades toward the realm of purple and lilac.  Acrylic on canvas, 2019.

The Green Flower, Sarah Myers, detail of face.

The Green Flower, Sarah Myers, detail of flower.

The Green Flower, Sarah Myers, detail.

Sidewards Glance - Painting by Sarah Myers

Sidewards Glance, Sarah Myers.  Acrylic on canvas, 2019.

The dashing sweep of her hat darts in same direction as her eyes… Black, red, blue all rush across the canvas of the first painting in my newest series of artworks. Simple, rapid brush strokes define the face with its sideways glance and slightly parted, slightly smiling lips. A wider range of play from a larger brush, loaded with rich, intense black, gives the rough outline of the hat. Yellow-orange and even metallic gold speak from time to time to detail the woman's lively expression or the edges of her stylish headgear. November 2019.

Sidewards Glance, Sarah Myers.  Detail.

Sidewards Glance.  Detail.  Sarah Myers.

Still-Life with Water-pots - Painting by Sarah Myers

Still-Life with Two Water-pots, Sarah Myers
Acrylic on canvas

      My newest painting is a still-life with two water-pots - one holding small date-palm fronds – and between them a cluster of rich red grapes. The larger of the two vessels is a majolica piece decorated in happy, bright patterns; the smaller, with its dignified stance and deep terracotta colour, is pottery created by my sister Amy. Overhead, the sharp, fragile leaves of the palm reach out to embrace the whole – the two jars, a white wall, and the fruit tumbling forward toward us.  

Still-Life with Two Water-pots, detail.  Sarah Myers

Still-Life with Two Water-pots.  Detail of smaller vessel.

Still-Life with Two Water-pots.  Detail.

Still-life with Pineapple - Painting by Sarah Myers

Still-life with Pineapple, Sarah Myers

In this large still-life are combined a handsome pineapple, an exuberant vase of red clay, a pair of early oranges from our own orange tree, and two solemn red pears. Shape echoes shape and colours mirror colours in smaller and larger forms. The spheres of the oranges imitate the rotund base of the pottery; the outline of the more prominent pear reflects the upright body of the pineapple, though its colour – apart from the brown tones that describe its softer, natural substance - is very similar to the earthenware pot.

This painting is in acrylics. The vase is a rendering of a hand-built ceramic by my sister Amy Myers.

Still-life with Pineapple, Sarah Myers.  Detail.

Still-life with Pineapple, detail.

Still-life with Pineapple, Sarah Myers
Detail

Horse on Silver - Painting by Sarah Myers

Horse on Silver, Sarah Myers

A horse - alert glance and backward tilted ears showing its liveliness - arches its neck, looming against a background of reflective silver. This is a large canvas and makes a very strong impact on the wall. It was painted in acrylic and metallic acrylic.

Horse on Silver, Sarah Myers
Detail

Still-life with Sculpture and Lemons - Painting by Sarah Myers

Still-life with Sculpture and Lemons

     This still-life is a painting of one of my sculptures in red clay (terracotta) and a bowl of the same material, made by my sister Amy Myers – the vessel contains a heap of fresh lemons from our lemon tree. The intense orange surrounding these objects was a real backdrop of painted canvas. The fiery colour of summer light is held by the fire-baked clay and the glowing yellow fruit, the strong hues are at once sober and happy...  

Still-life with Sculpture and Lemons, Sarah Myers
Detail, bowl of lemons

Still-life with Sculpture and Lemons, Sarah Myers
Detail of sculpture

The Hat - Painting by Sarah Myers

Hat, Sarah Myers
Acrylic on canvas

The lady leans forward in the shade of her brilliant red hat. Her chin rests on her hand and she looks just slightly pensive, lost in thought – but she is clearly ready for the summer, the sunlight and the long, bright days… Painted in acrylic on canvas.

Hat, Sarah Myers.  Detail

Hat
Painting by Sarah Myers

Large Still-Life with Pumello - Painting by Sarah Myers

Still-life with Pumello, Sarah Myers

In this very large still-life are two warm red, earthenware vessels, hand-built by my sister, Amy Myers; around and inside the clay pots are fruit, dark grapes and an enormous, yellow-green pumello. The colour of the pumello is, as depicted in the picture, a bracing chartreuse; it is a plump fruit, ancestor of the grapefruit, with thicker rind and blander taste. It is slightly flattened, and for the painting's composition I actually propped it upright on the single grape you see under it to the right. The rest of the grape cluster, climbing from the earthenware bowl, fills the space left between bowl and the tall red pot. The artwork is acrylic on canvas.

Still-Life with Pumello, Sarah Myers
Detail

Detail

Still-Life with Pumello, Sarah Myers
Detail of grapes

Still-Life with Two Oranges, Painting by Sarah Myers

Still-Life with Two Oranges, Sarah Myers

    Central to this painting are two vessels in warm white stoneware, whose long, handsome lines contrast with the abrupt brightness of the oranges.  The pitcher and handled cup are a muted, gentle tone but hard in their surfaces, where the fruit with its brash colour and simple spheres make a much more yielding substance.

The ceramics were created by Amy Myers. The still-life is acrylic on canvas.

Still-Life with Two Oranges, detail
Sarah Myers

Still-Life, detail
Sarah Myers

Still-Life with Red Pitcher - Sarah Myers

Still-Life with Red Pitcher, Sarah Myers
Acryllic on Canvas

Detail, Still-Life with Red Pitcher

The central form in this still-life is a pitcher, or Oinochoe, in warm red earthenware, created by Amy Myers.  A pomegranate and lemons roll among folds of linen.

Pomegranate from Still-Life with Red Pitcher

Triangle - Painting by Sarah Myers

Triangle
Sarah Myers, Acrylic on Canvas

Close-up detail of "Triangle"

Painting. Figure: Ocean S. Myers

Figure: Ocean    S. Myers, Acrylic on Canvas  2013

     My newest painting began with inspiration from Baroque maps, where figures personifying seasons, continents, and oceans stand on either side or recline at the bottom, ornamenting already elaborate and fantastic charts.

      But I was also looking at pictures of Brazilian interiors.  And I was full of the colors and enchanting vistas of Raoul Dufy. So as I spread the brilliant blue, the brown, and the mica/iron gold paint on the canvas, I resolved, not to hold to a single influence, simply to create something that would show very well on a wall.