Oil on wood | 12×16

“Flat Lay: objects arranged on a flat surface, captured from directly above. Some people refer to this angle as a bird’s eye view.”

I’m a puzzle lover and get pretty excited when it comes to all things spatial (i.e.  packing the car, sizing up the perfect container for leftovers). Flat Lay is what I see as a marriage of the two.

My parents had given me a box of my grandfathers tools for the studio, each one a joy to hold, smooth handled and patinaed from years and years of use. Looking for inspiration, I pulled them out, one-by-one, considering each for small quick studies. And then I found myself causally arranging and rearranging them on the table, noticing how each “fit” next to another and the spaces (shapes) created between, the rhythm of dark notes, visual balance…  And as a wink to my grandfather, I added my yellow clip to the group–a pop of color and just the right piece to complete the composition.