Lisa Thorpe

In Pursuit of Still Life

I love doing still life paintings and drawings.  Just the name itself denotes a quiet, reflective, tranquil pursuit. Still Life.  Perhaps it’s because my life doesn’t seem to have enough still spaces that I am so drawn to the subject matter.  I love the whole process of creating a piece of still life art.  First you scan your surrounding for the extraordinary in the ordinary.  Then take time to arrange the objects of ordinariness into a balanced and pleasing scene.  Just this part of the process is a pleasure, a stopping and stilling of life’s vigorous pace.  If you stop right here at creating a little scene of pleasure, that could be enough; enough to make a still, calm space in the swirling winds of everydayness.  Taking the next step of sitting still (there’s that word again) and sealing that scene in a piece of art over a few hours or days is a lovely, leisurely quest.   This notion of still life reminds me of something my yoga instructor said at this week’s class. She always begins the class with a meditation, she led us into quieting our minds by reminding us to ground our bodies on the earth sitting quietly, gently, grounded in the space between earth and heaven.  I was so struck by that image: the space between heaven and earth.  That is where we reside, in this blessed space that is neither earth nor heaven but somehow both at the same time. We must remember to create an aperture, an opening for still life, it is in still life that we recognize this blessed space in which we dwell; the thin bright line between heaven and earth.

This still life drawing was done on my iPad.  I am still having fun with this new medium.  The image will be available to purchase in print form in a large range of sizes on my website (if not today then soon) go to the website or email me for information.   http://lisathorpe.com/