Still Life Tableaux

In the 17th and 18th century Dutch and Flemish Still Life painters captured flowers and fruit in meticulous detail with a mix of rich colors and textures. These fallen leaves alongside the fence in Riverside Park, NYC, mirror this genre of the Old Masters with their combination of colors and leaf detail. In addition to the flaming red, orange, and yellow colors of trees, the beauty of autumn can be discovered at our feet in the kaleidoscopic patterns of leaves that have drifted downward and settled into Still Life tableaux. Their natural endings generate new beginnings in the cycle of seasonal change. Blanketing the ground in brightly colored quilt work patterns that darken and deepen is part of the recycling process. Multiple organisms decompose the leaves and these discards add basic nutrients to the soil for the lush greenery of the next spring season.