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 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

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.