This piece was done for the Still Life Challenge.

This is a still life with apples, but not Cezanne. This is done in the style of van Gogh the way he might have done it if he had done repousse. One of the challenges that I set for myself was how to translate the singular style of van Gogh without using color. I looked at a number of his works and tried to find the unifying factors. There were several elements that I chose to concentrate upon. The first common element was the regular brush marks. In a number of his paintings, the majority of brush marks are the same size and shape, differing only in color and orientation. Well, color was out for obvious reasons but orientation was useful as was shape. I could use differing shape as a way to convey the information that he had assigned to color. I tried to apply the punch marks in a regular fashion, but vary the shape of the punches to differentiate the objects. Van Gogh's style had other useful characteristics that I could pick out. Another thing that I used was a series of extra lines around the objects lending them this vibrating frenetic energy That he seemed to sense in the world. This also added a touch more intensity to the scene.

In addition, I added a blatant reference to Starry Night in the background. Having seen the original, I was struck by the swirling energies imbued in the painting and I wanted to convey some of that aliveness, yet retain the definition in the foreground. I did this by using chasing to define the background and repousse for the foreground. The difference in the relief sets the objects apart quite nicely.

I hope that you find some of the energy and intensity there that van Gogh's work inspires in me.