Art Cellar Gallery | 7/27-8/13 | Banner Elk, NC

Still Lifes that Shine

Loren DiBenedetto presents 20 striking new still lifes at Art Cellar Gallery in Banner Elk, NC

On her daily meditative walks, Loren DiBenedetto often finds things to inspire her still life paintings. “I’m always inspired by nature,” she says. “The branch in Weeping Pine had broken off and was just dancing in the tree. I knew I had to paint it. When I got back to my studio I looked for a vase I could put it in, thinking I would use a clear one. When I saw the yellow vase I knew it was a perfect match.”Tomatoes in Green Bowl, oil on canvas, 18 x 24"

Vase and branch sit on a black shelf with a neutral gray wall behind them. Nature morte comes alive with the reflections on the shelf and the abstract shadows on the shelf and wall. “Still life paintings could become one dimensional,” she explains. “Shadows are one of the most important elements in the composition of my paintings, giving them more depth and making your eyes move around the canvas. Weeping Pine, oil on canvas, 18 x 24"

Three Pears and Cloth, oil on canvas, 24 x 30”

“When I was first starting out as a realist painter I wondered, What do you paint as a realist?’ Then I heard someone say, 'paint what you know.' I grew up in the flower industry since my aunt owned a flower shop where I helped out from when I was about 13. I was classically trained but stayed in the flower business until I realized I could do painting full time.Anemone, oil on canvas, 40 x 30”

“I begin drawing with my brush on, normally, a white canvas, loosely blocking in the colors, working from the background forward. I build the forms that I want and take a soft brush to blend the colors together. Then I go back in for the highlights and detail.”Lenten Rose, oil on canvas, 24 x 18"DiBenedetto continues, “I have always admired John Singer Sargent’s compositions and the detail in DaVinci’s drawings. I eventually found my own voice and almost stopped looking at the work of other artists. One problem with painting realistically, especially in a small format, is that people often say, ‘It looks like a photograph!’ I’m thinking of painting 3-by-4 foot paintings so they won’t look like a photograph any more. People will see it’s really a painting.” —