Humbled by life

The practice of painting directly from life is a humbling thing. These still lives gave me a sense of the struggle of making order out of chaos. Painting these images was a sort of penance and escape at the same time. I’d go into my studio and try to find ‘that’ grain of rice or sand where I had left off the night before. It was both numbing and exhilarating. Once I got this painting going I realised it was a composition of dashes. The weave pattern on the bowl made little dash shapes, the rice too, even the stiches in the hem of the cloth. Love when that stuff happens unexpectedly.


Jasmine Rice, 2008
oil on panel
10" x10"