Silk Spools with Fan

Silk Spools and Fan Stage 1

I don't ordinarily work on a square, although I really like when I see art in this format.   For a square, some say that the rule of thirds does not apply.  In other words, a composition with the center of interest in the middle should work just fine, balance on either side of a centered axis, both horizontally and vertically.  It was fun to play with this size again, since the last time I did one was the Out of the Box event through North River Arts Society last year.



Silk Spools and Fan Stage 2

The reason I was working on the square was that it was to support a silent auction.  After I completed it, I decided to enter something else instead.  I love this one. I had just attended a fantastic still life demo by Daniel Keys, so I pulled out my still life shelf and set it up with some items.   Mill spools are becoming more and more scarce and are one of my favorite pieces of Americana.   I bought the fan in Japan and actually has some splashy color on one side and neutral on the other.   I used the neutral side and in fact set up everything in neutral color so that I could improvise with the color.    The goal for this painting was use a color palette that was considered "hot" for 2013 (per a designer magazine) would interest more bidders.  

Silk Spools and Fan Final

I settled on a palette combination that has hot pink, turquoise, cobalt blue, and shades of gold.   The black lacquered vase was picking up a lot of reflections.    Winding the thread throughout the painting is a look I have used before and had fun adding again.

I'll let this sit a few days and decide if there are any other changes needed.   (maybe the blue spool is looking too flat?).   Let me know what you think too.