It is not enough to place colors, however beautiful, one beside the other; colors must also react on one another. Otherwise, you have cacophony. - Henri Matisse

I began still life on canvas in 1989 when painting in public at Bai St. Paul, Quebec as invited artist. I had been painting nudes at the time and still life less problematic. There was private time in the studios when I continued painting from nude models and during public hours I did Still Life. They have been a tracer of my various modes through out my career since then. For instance: After a sojourn in Italy in 2001, a celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary, having seen a major Carravagio show in Rome, for a time, the still-lifes tended to dense color and very dramatic. Two examples from that moment, Carravagio's Rubies, and Jet Black River. Still life is perhaps the most color dependent genre of painting. When a still life is reduced to black & white the subject, flowers, vases or other props often dissolve into one another without their specific color to define them. I find this genre to be perfect for color dominant expressive statements in paint.