Oil on wood, ready to hang.

Signed certificate of authenticity.

This artwork comes with an external frame

One of the bigger still-life paintings of the last five years which bares my undoubted handwriting - the grapes. I planted a small private vineyard 15 years ago just so I could pick grapes, its leaves and branches to study. It took years to get to the level of painting grapes that I was finally satisfied with and has since become second nature and often from memory. I feel it would be cheating if I resorted to making a photo or paint from a projection onto the painting surface. Such shortcuts are unacceptable to my philosophy, but this is a very personal choice; it must be the real thing or come directly from my mind in order to be included. I feel strongly about the props I use being authentic and not imitation either and perhaps that makes me stubbornly traditional.

This piece started with an enormous art glass bowl that looks like a cognac glass which I have tucked away somewhere, although I did not have it on hand I still know what it looks like. I began to fill it with fruit that soon spilled out onto the table over a number of weeks. The Roses are also directly from my own garden.

Something of this size takes a good while to complete in stages of layer and detail. It is quite physically straining after 6 weeks or more of working on the same painting each day to maintain momentum so it will often need to sit for a time before I get back to it with more objective clarity and puissance. The niche was originally going to be a window yet somehow it developed into something of its own accord which is the interesting part of allowing art to creatively flow.

Please note: As with all art works, framing is a very personal choice based on taste and interior design. Most people will choose to have their investment re-framed accordingly. Therefore the included frame is merely complimentary and intended foremost as protection against bumps and scratches whilst in storage.