Silent Sea: Still Life Painting as Meditation · Entry I.

Settings of “Silent Sea”

I spent months with this painting. My studio then was in a historic building, where deep foliage outside the window marked the turning from spring to summer.

Preparatory Drawing, graphite on paper

I began with a pencil sketch, then a color study, always waiting for the soft, natural light. On rainy Seattle days the light was iron-gray, but I waited for the warmth threaded through it.

Poster study of “Silent Sea”

Slowly, I painted—watching the shell until it seemed to glow, a substance both present and dissolving.

In that quiet work, I felt tethered: to the shell, to the shaded world beyond the window, and to something vaster that painting alone could reach.