One of my favorite things about berries is how abundant they can be. If you know where to look, there's a good chance you'll find them growing nearby. This painting is a celebration of that everyday abundance and the small delight of discovering something beautiful and delicious along the way. It has 5 or more layers, eye gets a little lost in there and I could have changed that, but I think it's part of the fun. The big pile up. I was imagining blackberries folded into cream, the deep purple-black orbs swirling against something puffy and soft. I also kept thinking about the way cake decorators sometimes slice blackberries in half before placing them on a cake, revealing all those tiny seeds arranged in their quiet geometric pattern. Slicing the fruit stretches it across more surface area while creating a beautiful pattern that shows off the inside of each berry. I wanted the painting to hold that same sense of unveiling, layer by layer, so the eye keeps finding new textures the longer it looks. There's something satisfying about a fruit that looks completely different once it's been opened up, and I tried to let that feeling guide the brushwork. One of my favorite things about berries is how abundant they can be. If you know where to look, there's a good chance you'll find them growing near you in the spring and summer. This painting is a celebration of that common abundance and the delight of discovering something beautiful and delicious along your day. It has 5 or more layers, and the eye gets a little lost in there. I could have simplified that, but I think it's part of the fun. The big pile up of yumminess! I wanted the composition to give the feeling of a bounty of fruit. There's a joy of in nature's wild generosity.
