Acrylic Painting - Art -Still Life with Stripy Tin and Blue Straw - Australian Artist Shellie Cleaver - Acrylic Canvas Painting

Still Life with Stripy Tin and Blue Straw by Australian painter Shellie Cleaver.

Size: 16 x 20 " or 406 x 508 mm

Winsor and Newton Artist Stretched Canvas and artist quality acrylic.

Original painting, unframed and no varnish has been applied to the surface.

Signed and dated the back on the wooden stretcher.

The idea of focusing time and attentive observation upon objects that fill our everyday lives is of great interest to me. Not only are they beautiful but they speak to us because they form part of our identity. They are the collection of things we live with each day. Not of any particular monetary value, but the teacup you use, the jar that stores the flour, the jug you put milk in; these objects are part of our everyday lives.

Painting these objects reveals not only their inherent beauty but also pays homage to the important role they play in our lives. These paintings invite us to contemplate the overlooked, to find beauty in the ordinary and to appreciate these objects that may long out live us.

Through my work I explore composition, shape and line, tone and colour.

Thanks for looking and please get in touch with any questions.

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Shellie Cleaver’ works across the genres of still life and landscape mostly. Her landscape works create a lively, painterly and impressionist look and add interest to any space, Her still-life paintings infuse everyday objects with transcendental ideas of time and composition. Whilst the objects depicted are not often associated with any kind of monetary value, Shellie looks to each of her subjects as a means to break up and punctuate moments in time. Acknowledging their unremarkable nature whilst drawing these objects onto an unusually high platform, Shellie’s works point to larger philosophical ideas concerning metaphysics.

In its material make-up, Shellie’s art-making practice unfolds structurally from the base up: She spends time composing the objects before moving to her canvas, which is stretched and prepared before the first sketches are added. A dark, background colour is applied before the outlines of the objects themselves are added in acrylic paints. Whilst Shellie prefers the sensory experience of oil paints, the reliability and practicality of acrylic makes it a better day-to-day option.

Shellie’s commitment to her practice has revealed itself in time: “I always loved to make things and by the end of high school I was determined to become an artist. I studied Fine Arts at the National Art School in Sydney and participated in group and solo exhibitions after that. I have been creating art for over 15 years. Last year I committed to re-establishing my artistic practice to a professional level and this continues as I develop my body of work in the still life painting genre.” Following her time as NAS, Shellie completed a Masters degree in Painting Conservation at Melbourne University, which she acknowledges as an important step in broadening her knowledge of the art world, artists, materials and techniques.

Shellie’s art education includes ‘Fundamentals of Painting’ with Michelle Hiscock, a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the National Art School and a Masters of Cultural Materials Conservation, Painting Specialisation, at the University of Melbourne. She has been in countless group shows and solo exhibitions, and had works published in The Sydney Morning Herald with reference to the ‘ Six Young Artists’ exhibition at Mary Place Gallery.