Images of a bountiful harvest fill this painting: Pears, grapes, and a basket of bread fill the table. In the distance, the sun light illuminates the fields. Life is full, if we are ready to sample it! I try to make this my philosophy. When painting a still life, I arrange objects so that they are close at hand, then I paint them as rapidly as possible, trying not to overwork them. I feel that the artist not only paints what they see; but also paints other non-visual aspects of the subject, such as the weight, the texture, and our emotional reactions. I think that these abstract elements of a painting come automatically while we are painting what we "see." This is why I try to use the real thing as much as possible, and why I try not to go back over something to make it "better." I like to work big and use large flat brushes, often double loading the brush. This painting was recently sold, and is now in a private collection in North Carolina.