Ashley C. Oil 8x10" panels

Final Project Essay
I chose the individual small thematic
still lifes. I took five, eight
by ten panels and one eight by six panel.
After arranging them onto a
large piece of cardboard, I set up a
still life based on the shadow box
concept that I learned in class this
semester. The still life was
comprised of two whimsical elephant
figurines and an antique scale that
I found in the painting studio. I
arranged the still life in a way that
made personal sense to me. The
scale was half inside the shadow box
with one elephant figurine placed
on top of it. The other elephant
figurine was placed in front of the
scale, but to the left side. The
elephants work together because
they are a repeating element, an
invisible line is drawn between them,
and they seem to be communicating
with each other.

The elephant figurine placed on the
scale represents the weight that
is placed on females of all cultures
to stay true to their femininity.
Elephants represent fertility.
The elephant in front of the scale
represents the women who have
found that their femininity is not the
sum of their whole being.

My paintings relate to each other
because they were painted as a
single complete painting, then
broken apart and placed on the wall with
space in between each panel.
There are many high and low key value
ranges, particularly in the shadows
of the objects and in the box, to
the highlights of the objects. The
colors of this montage are largely
warm, but the elephant figurines
add cool to the paintings, as well as
the scale which also has some cool
sections within the face of the
scale and the base of the scale. The
chroma of these paintings range
from high to low with many steps
in between; the scale and the
elephants have a sense of volume
and form. The textures vary between
the shadow box, the scale, and the
smooth glass of the figurines. I
think that my paintings are not
overworked; I kept the paint from being
muddled, and kept it fresh and
painterly. There is a high sense of
atmospheric space in this painting.

Overall, I think that I successfully
addressed all of the criteria for
the final project. My paintings were
not supposed to be highly
realistic, or look like they were ready
to spring from the canvass. I
wanted to have a whimsical feel to
the paintings, an Alice of
Wonderland atmosphere. The painting
is meant to be a cross between
impressionistic and whimsy, united as
a whole by my perception of the
world. My piece is not political or meant
to be seen as anything other
than a painting that conveys the inner
child that wants to escape down
the rabbit hole into a world of fantasy.