I wasn’t happy with the first two tries (posted below) for the prompt “a relic or something handed down from family” so started over with the simpler subjects pictured above: my grandmother’s yellow mixing bowl; a serving spoon with part of its pink handle broken off and my favorite spoon that I eat with all the time, both remnants of my mother’s 50s kitchen with their pre-plastic Bakelite handles. And last, my grandmother’s beat up old jar opener that she used to pop open her homemade dill pickle jars. I use it all the time to open jars and think of her each time I do.
Above is my second attempt, some roses from my garden in a little vase my mother gave me. It’s really complicated with “arms” reaching around and circling three round-bellied vessels, all connected.
Below is the first attempt, sketched outdoors in blinding sun that messed with my judgment of color and value. Also below is an attempt at drawing what the vase looks like from a different perspective. Also a fail.
The color of the roses was so pretty…much nicer than anything I could paint.
Jana Bouc, Artist 