"The stillness as a Chinese jar" from TS Eliot's Burnt Norton haunts me for the sheer beauty of those words. I have begun my first large (30cm x 60cm) vase and its scary. I did the drawing a while ago and I have waited to see how to develop it as an oil painting. I want to imbue it with a sense of presence, give it some pattern and yet flatten the 3-dimensionality. A tall order, but I thought by treating the background as a texture or pattern or even flat, rather than shaded would help. I … [Read more...]