Drawn to a Still Life

An Exhibition by Garet Cousins and Sylvia Quinn Home.

Both artists have been drawn to painting still-life, with the contents of their homes the source of their inspiration.

Their approaches appear to be very different and the outcomes too, but both begin with an appreciation of the quiet, functional simplicity of their chosen objects that fill their everyday lives. They then both translate what they see into a tangible emotional reality.

‘I start with many drawings of my set up, these allow me to become familiar with the shapes and relationships between the objects, and for an extra dimension to emerge. I work with that and the familiarity, semi independently of the original objects, until they have a life of their own. Then I embrace the wonky, the messy and the disarrayed.’ Garet.

‘When the cold winters kept me indoors I experimented with composition, what to put in and what to take out, the juxtaposition of colours, pattern, form and how the eye is led through the image. When I’m completely happy that the composition ‘feels’ right, that’s when I know it’s time to apply paint.’ Sylvia