Seeing that it was strawberry season at the time of deciding what to paint for the show, Torrie's "Bowl of Strawberries" became a perfect candidate.

My pedestrian rip of Torrie Smiley's elegant silver bowl of strawberries with the berries relegated to an old porcelain colander, is the antithesis of the elegance that prevails in Torrie's strawberries which regally command attention in a lovely setting. However, the berries in both look luscious and tantalizing, ready to be devoured.

It is a composite made up of several layers. First the background was removed from a photo of berries in a colander next to another colander and bowl with flowers. I then photographed some of the berries I was slicing for dessert after positioning them attractively on a paper towel. The original photo was manipulated to the extent of cropping out undesirable features, adding a layer of sliced berries and creating a blue textured background to somewhat emulate that of Torrie's original painting.The final composition was arranged in layers in PS and a new textured background was painted in Studio Artist. Finally a border was added for a painterly effect.

It was a pleasure to pair with Torrie for the show and I enjoyed creating the piece. Her work is amazing and speaks to me.