Finish Line

                     The Dutch artist, Michiel van Musscher, painted Michael Comans, Calligrapher, Etcher, which is the source painting for number eleven in the Lessons from the Low Countries series. Musscher, 1645-1705, trained in Amsterdam and received instruction from non other than Gabriel Metsu, a personal favorite. Metsu painted The Hunter’s Present, my inspiration for #3 of this series.

                    This 24x28 painting of Michael Comans was one in a series of ten paintings depicting artists in their studios. In addition to Comans and his wife, Elisabeth, the scene is filled with tools of the trade: easel, paintings, frames, paint filled palettes, etching and calligrapher habiliments, books, and other items.

                   The color theme used here perfectly illustrates the beauty of a subtle limited palette. Musscher used only tiny bits of pure bright hues here and there, the red flowers on the sill, the underside of the seat cushion, and a few objects on the taboret. I tried to replicate that idea by using reds in my bouquet, scarf, and a few warm tones in the grapes. Warm wood tones are carried out in the scarf and book, which echoes the wood tones in Musscher’s wood palette, stool, and easel. The warm tones balance the background cool greens.

                   This light/dark theme was an auspicious use of my conveniently blooming dogwood and suited number 11’s composition perfectly. This final painting in my Lessons from the Low Countries series measures 20x16, and is another still life/floral theme.