Two Artists Painting A Still Life

We set up a still life on the porch of the Maine house, and my artist friend and I painted the scene -- still life in the front, the ocean beyond.  It was a hugely fun time painting.  I started out painting the dark values, trying to be sure the scene was organized by light and shadow before adding in the color.   Her process is more a compilation of brush strokes of color that she layers; the highlights are added last and the images emerge.  I'm not sure she'd describe her work that way -- but her results are always luminous and emotionally charged.

I'd seen an exhibit years ago at the Phillips showing how impressionists sharing a studio interpreted the same model or still life.  I'm fascinated at how we can each look at the same scene and come up with different ideas of what we're seeing.

Mine's on the left.  The blue willow pattern mug and pitcher make a strong statement in my painting, and  I've put the pine trees and ocean in the back.  In my friend's painting the mug and pitcher are supporting players.  She was absolutely accurate mixing the gray of the table the still life was on and I couldn't get that color to mix, and ended up with a warmer table color.   Interesting!