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Summer, Suspended in Yellow

One of my favorite things about still life painting is how it can hold a whole season in a moment. This new Monthly Miniature, Summer, Suspended in Yellow, pauses summer at its peak, even as time passes differently within the composition. The yellow Japanese plums were ripe weeks before the Asian pears began to turn, yet here they exist together, suspended in a single, golden season. This layering of time is something Dutch masters often did, hinting at the fleeting nature of life while celebrating its abundance.

Inspiration from Cotán and Coorte

This painting is inspired by two artists I return to often: Fray Juan Sánchez Cotán (1560–1627), a Spanish Baroque painter, and Adriaen Coorte, a Dutch still life painter active in the late 1600s.

Cotán is often credited as the father of Spanish still life (bodegón) painting. His carefully arranged compositions are filled with a serene order, often placing fruits and vegetables in spare, stone-like niches. His Still Life with Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber is a masterclass in quiet balance and the poetic rhythm of form.

Coorte, on the other hand, is known for his small, intimate paintings of fruit and vegetables, often presented on a simple stone ledge with a dark background. His works feel deeply connected to the natural world, in part because of the insects that frequently make their way into his compositions. At first glance, Cotán and Coorte share a similar sensibility, but Coorte’s paintings seem to breathe a little life, as if the objects have just been gathered from the garden.

Both painters share a quiet restraint that sets them apart from many of their more exuberant contemporaries. Instead of compositions overflowing with flowers and food, they often choose just a handful of objects and place them with precision, creating a sense of space and stillness. In Summer, Suspended in Yellow, I’ve taken inspiration from Cotán’s meditative compositional rhythm while allowing the presence of a tiny wasp to echo Coorte’s gentle connection to nature.

Chasing the Color Yellow

Yellow can be a challenging color in oil paint. It’s often quite transparent and takes many layers to achieve luminosity. Luckily for me, that’s how I usually work. For this painting, I added a lovely glazing color, Indian yellow, to my usual palette: titanium white, cadmium lemon, yellow ochre, cadmium red light, quinacridone rose, ultramarine and phthalo blues, venetian red, burnt umber, and ivory black. My favorite green, which is visible in the banana stems and pear leaves, is a simple mix of cadmium lemon and black.

Old Meets New

Though inspired by centuries-old tradition, the fruit is firmly of the present day. The pear and plums came from my backyard garden, while the bananas are the modern Cavendish variety you’ll find in any grocery store. Old-world compositional ideas meet today’s familiar fruits, all brought to life through careful layering of color.

Follow the White Rabbit! June Monthly Miniature and my Social Media Journey

White rabbit oil painting Rebecca Luncan

The White Rabbit
oil on aluminum
4 1/2″ x 3 1/4″

I’ve been following the white rabbit down the social media rabbit hole, and with every post, I’m growing out of my social media dread.

Until this past year, my social media presence was limited to a Facebook account with 5 posts, ever. But a lot has happened since then, and I’ve started a Facebook business page, this blog, an Instagram account and registered as a business on Yelp and  Google+. Most recently, I have even started a Newsletter to help friends, fans and fellow artists follow my Monthly Miniature rabbit paintings or get updates on my blog. Phew!

I love people, but putting myself out there on the internet was an emotional hurdle. As a social media novice, the first few posts were extremely difficult, and the “post/publish” button would fill me with dread and anxiety. But with time and practice, it has gotten MUCH easier. Reading other blogs has taught me that consistency makes a huge difference and I’m finding it’s not just for the typical reasons such as people looking for new content. Constancy also helps keep me on track and allows me to think about meeting my goals instead of thinking about my fears.

Now I actually feel pretty good when I get something up. Connecting with people in a real world kind of way is part of what I live for. The sharing is starting to feel much less like I’m exposing myself and more like I’m connecting, largely due to all the support that I’ve gotten from everyone out there. Heartfelt thanks to everyone looking, sharing and buying, and to everyone enjoying my newsletter. And special thanks to everyone commenting and leaving reviews. It lets me know I’m on the right track.

If you are a beginning blogger or artist, or you are thinking about starting a blog, my advice is to dive right in. Do the best you can this time, and then do it a little better next time. There is so much to know that you can’t learn it all ahead of time, and so much is just conquering your fear.