"I can't move.": case studies in still life behavior

     A still life is a depiction of an arrangement of inanimate stuff. Still life is a big tent of a genre. Practically all manner of stuff is welcome to a space on the cloth draped table top. Some such typical stuff includes vases of flowers, bottles and glasses of fine wine, and bountiful fruits and other foods. All the stuff of a well appointed life. However, there are neither rules nor any regulatory body governing which sorts of objects can be included within the domain of "still life".

     Still life has occupied an important place in the visual arts for centuries. We have always liked our stuff and we have always liked pictures of it. And still life by its very nature seems to have been formed with the purposes of artists in mind. Slow moving artists can easily observe and render a subject that does not move. Nothing to chase down or guess about. The still life is right there, steadfast, immobile. It will not turn away from the artists gaze.

     But when no one’s looking a still life might begin to display its obvious hidden colors. When left to its own devices any given still life can find itself involved in situations ranging from the religious to the comedic. These paintings are presented to document some of these seldom observed situations.