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Classic Still Life Painting: A Contemporary Master Shows How to Achieve Old Master Effects Using Today's Art Materials

Classic Still Life Painting shows artists how to create paintings of sparkling brilliance and jewel-like color that look like they have been lit from within-just like the exquisite paintings of the Renaissance masters of the 16th and 17th centuries. Artists learn techniques similar to those used by Rembrandt, Raphael, Rubens, and other master painters of the past, including using glazing with colors over a subtle underpainting of tones to achieve the effect of sunlight passing through stained glass. Through the advent of fast drying mediums artists learn that they will be able to achieve the same richness and luminosity found in the works of the old masters.




• The only source available that covers how to create mixed-media artworks with an extensive range of mediums

• Finished examples provide creative inspiration

• A valuable reference that includes technical information and demonstrations

This is my first flower still life, it is based on a work by Ambrosius Bosschaert of 1618.
During the 1600s the Dutch became Europe's leading horticulturists, and exotic flowers became a national obsession, culminating in Tulipmania.
Some of these paintings contained symbols.
Mine contains many.
At 12 o’clock is an Iris crowning the bouquet, it is a reference to disgraced Australian Businessman, Alan Bond who purchased Van Gogh’s Irises in 1987 for a world record $54 million. He then declared himself bankrupt with personal debts of $1.8 billion and was sentenced to 7 years in prison. The fallen iris refers to Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
The Poppy at 1 o’clock refers to my sadly departed dog Poppy, the unopened flower is a symbol of the new puppy which will be born in the New Year.
The fern represents my New Zealand birthplace, the Tulips my passion for Dutch masters.
At 4 o’clock, obscured from clear view, is a Wollemia Pine a remarkable plant that was only discovered in 1994, very close to Sydney, proving that we have much to learn about nature.
The chewed leaves and snail remind us that all things must end; even Flower paintings had Vanitas overtones.
The large pink rose is a reference to our ego, vital to have, but it must be controlled or it will overpower everything. Here I think it is too big, a reminder to me to keep it in check.
The Australian Flowers at the centre of the work refer to my adopted home of Australia. Her exuberant blooms are in stark contrast with the sparse landscape from which they come. I think Bosschaert would have painted these, if they were available to him.
The Caterpillar climbing the leaf at 11 o’clock is a reference to the ultimate futility of ambition.
There are a few other elements to be discovered for those interested in looking.

An oil painting by my maternal grandfather, Peter C. Ottzen (1903 - 1988) a native of Aarhus, Denmark. He emigrated, as did my maternal grandmother also of Denmark, to the US and lived in Perth Amboy and Staten Island before moving to Upstate NY and largely the Cooperstown, NY area.

My bestafa (grandfather in Danish; bestamor for grandmother) was a master woodworker by formal trade with an expertise in cabinetry. He renovated many of the homes his family lived in over the course of his life and worked for the Clark Estates in later years.

The still life flower painting was done at the family farm on the Otsdawa near the township of Otego in southern Otsego County. The farm has long since been sold.

He was part of the Cape Ann school of artists and created many works in Rockport and Gloucester, MA. An award winning artist, he joined Hartwick Collge staff for a time, and was a member of the Cooperstown Art Association.

Relative to the number of paintings he did during his lifetime only a small percentage are held outside of the family today. A few of his paintings have found their way to Denmark vis-a-vis my sister and her husband who reside there today.