winosandfoodies

Basket Of Oranges,Lemons and Jug by Margaret Olley

                                            Click on photo to enlarge

August's art photo is my recreation of the Australian painter   Margaret Olley, who passed away last week. In 1997 the Australian government declared her  a National Treasure.

Olley - who preferred to be known as a painter rather than an artist - saw beauty in humble items, reflecting this in her still life works of fruit bowls and flowers . (Quote from Sydney Morning Herald)

See more of her work  here.

Oops - I missed some greenery on the left hand side. I'm guessing it fell off when I was taking the photo and I only noticed it when I looked at the photos on the computer.

Basket of Oranges,Lemons and Jug

Madame S this one's for you - you're my very own Margaret Olley. <3

Basket of Bread by Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali's Basket of Bread painted in Montery, California in 1945.  Read more on the background of Dali's work and how Dali was making a political statement with this painting.

Previous art recreated photos.

Thank you all  for you comments on my recent posts.  At the moment I'm dealing with a few on going post chemo issues. Hopefully they will be sorted soon and I can spend time in the kitchen and at the computer.

Basket of Eggs by Australian Artist Nora Heysen

                                    Basket of Eggs by Nora Heysen

Australian artist Nora Heysen, the daughter of artist Sir Hans Heysen, was just a teenager when she painted 'Basket of Eggs'.  Her father did not think she showed good draughtsmanship in the composition.  I'm inclined to agree with him.

I had some problems with this. Firstly I found it impossible to buy white eggs. It seems the colour of eggs, white or brown is determined by the breed of chicken.  People mistakenly assume brown eggs are more nutritious than white eggs hence that seems to be all that is sold around here. I was told you can get white duck eggs more readily but I left it a bit late for that.

Secondly I had to use a cutting board as I did not have a table the correct colour. I created the back drop by hanging a green scarf at the back. The original painting has the table in the corner which I was unable to recreate.

I have also photographed this at too low an angle. I should have placed the camera at a slightly higher angle. But as this excercise is all about learning, I'm posting my not so successful results this month.

 

Lemon Apples and Tulips by Henri Fantin Latour

Henri Fantin-Latour    a French artist and lithographer, he was mostly known for his flower paintings and group portraits.

Citron,pommes et tulipes is displayed at  The Hermitage, St Peterburg Russia.

A number of his paintings are currently on show at the Bowes Museum  at  Barnard Castle, County Durham in England.

Previous art recreated

Renoir

Chardin

Thiebaud

Breakfast by Wayne Thiebaud

Wayne Thiebaud is an American artist I had not heard of until Sam suggested his work to me. 

As much as I would love to have recreated one of his cake or pie paintings, I could not have that amount of calories tempting me after the shoot.

I've chosen his work 'Breakfast'

Wayne Thiebaud is known for his paintings of production line objects as found in cafeterias and canteens. As a young man he worked at a cafe in Long Beach called Mile High and Red Hot. Mile High referred to an icecream whilst Red Hot was a hot dog.

About my project art recreated.

Still Life with Peaches, a Silver Goblet, Grapes, and Walnuts

 
....by Jean Simeon Chardin, curently on view at the Getty Centre Los Angeles, painted around 1759 - 1760.

This is the second of my art recreation series.

'In this small still life, Chardin portrayed a modest subject--three walnuts, four peaches, two bunches of grapes, and a pewter mug--but gave the objects monumentality by arranging them in pure geometric groupings and concentrating on their basic forms. He suggested the object's various textures and substances through the play of light across surfaces and successive applications of paint. In this way, Chardin conveyed the fuzzy skin of the peaches, the hard, brittle shell of the walnuts, the translucence of the grapes, and the heavy, cold exterior of the pewter mug.'  (quote from Getty Centre website)

Note the shapes  -  circles (peaches and grapes), ovals (walnuts), rectangles (the ledge), and a triangle (the stacked peaches). Although the shapes are flat ( two dimensional) they can create the illusion of three dimensions. As I don't have a pewter mug of this shape I made do with a glass covered in foil.

Renoir,Photography and My Bloggaversary

 
When I began this blog back on 06 January 2005 I had no idea I'd still be blogging come 2011. Hell I didn't even know if I'd be alive in 2011.  However thanks to all you wonderful people who have shown me kindness, caring and love over the past 6 years.I'm still blogging away. Badly in need of a refurbish, the blog  not me,  and I hope to update the  look sometime soon.

Every day I seem to face new challenges associated with cancer. Some I overcome, some do get the better of me. I'm fortunate to be surrounded by friends and family that step in on those days and make my day better. Particularly Bryan, my best friend and husband, our children Chris and Michael and several good friends (you know who you are!) here and in New Zealand.

Because those challenges are unwanted, I need to set my own wanted challenges. Challenges I can control. Challenges which will help me grow. Challenges which will expand my knowledge and skills and make me a better person.

Photography became a passion once I began blogging. Last year I completed Project 365. Thanks to the help of sites like White On Rice Photography, and friends like Jen who kindly shared her knowledge with constructive critisism of my photos I have improved outta site. I cringe when I look at some of my earlier photos.

Along with food and wine, I have a love of art. This year I have decided to combine my love of art with my photography challenge. Each month I will recreate a favourite painting and photograph it.

Within this I have set a further challenge to myself by not buying any further props for this project. Every recreation can only use things I already own.

My first attempt is from one of my favourite artists, Renoir. Fraises  was painted in 1905 and is on display at the Musee de l'Orangerie.

I'd love your suggestions of  favourite works of art,  containing food or wine, I could recreate.