WEEK #16 / SEACOAST MORNING GLORIES

Seacoast Morning Glories

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 7" x 5" (oval 5" x 3"), 2011

During the Renaissance the typical Florentine painter's workshop catered to many clients whose demands were quite varied. At the top were the great mural paintings often commissioned by

wealthy merchants and placed in a church or private chapel. Santa Maria Novella, not far from the Florence train station, is a prime example. These elaborate frescos usually required many assistants to complete the job.

Then there was the decoration of private chapels and the living spaces of grand palazzos. Often these areas contained portraits of the merchant, so now we find the emergence of the individual portrait as an important work of art.

The problem was that the artists needed work year round to fill gaps between these large scale commissions,so they painted things like processional banners and shields as well as domestic furniture. A typical piece of painted furniture was a dowry chest called a 'cassone'. Artists also decorated larger cabinets.

About five years ago

I teamed up with a native New Hampshire Furniture Master, David Lamb of Canterbury.

We began to collaborate on fairly large scale pieces of extraordinary furniture

which we dubbed "Lamboviches".

To date we have completed three collaborations and are now beginning our largest piece called

"The White Mountain Breakfront". It is approximately eight feet high and wide and contains several paintings. Aside from the major painting there are four small ovals that are inset into the four lower doors. I have proposed two concepts, one being the four 'elements' of New Hampshire: seacoast, mountains, industry and agriculture. These are each represented by a still life set into an environment.

Illustrated here is the seacoast represented by an export eighteenth century Leeds pitcher filled with deep blue morning glories. The pitcher on a granite base in front of the Atlantic Ocean with the White Island Lighthouse on the horizon off the coast of New Hampshire.

I faux painted mahogany around the oval to simulate the wood that David Lamb will use to create the actual door.

This is a presentation concept so we will have to wait and see if the patrons like it.

I'll keep you informed.

More to come.

copyright 2011 James Aponovich