When covid started and I had a lot more time to paint, I went through different stages of self-improvement in painting. Stage one was “Back to the Basics,” which involved a lot of apples and pears. Stage two was “Spontaneity” and involved too many hydrangeas. Stage three is “I seriously need to find more subjects to paint because I am done with flowers.” The problem was that after working from home for 9+ months, I couldn’t find inspiration from my house like I usually did. I’d seen everything too much, and every day!

That’s when my spouse came to the rescue and told me he’d like to set up my next still-life composition. Even though I was worried (he is an IT guy), I was growing a little desperate so I said: yes, please! He started with a piston he keeps on his desk to hold pens, then went digging in our garage for “other car stuff.” When he came back, I have to admit I didn’t bother asking about what he found, but asked if he had more of those colorful containers! I arranged the products into an interesting composition, and painted away. It was great to get out of my creative loop by having someone else see mundane objects with new eyes. I do wonder what my next stage of self-improvement will be, but in the meantime I have a strong feeling my next painting will be of a computer chip and motherboard…