The study and in-depth attention to detail is paramount when creating a piece of art from a still life. With a painting or drawing to be truly accurate, the artist must consider the background setting in which he places his still life objects. How will the light affect the mood of the painting? Or what other objects, such as the table they are sat upon, will have a bearing on the still life?
The fact is that no matter how many times you paint, or draw something the artist will produce different results every time. This is the beauty of art. It captures something very special, and often fleeting. A good way for an artist or sculpture to recognise the need to embrace changes and variety, is by observing nature and the choice available even in one aspect of such.
There are a known 7,500 varieties of apples grown around the world. Even within one variety of apple you will find diversity. Size, colour, markings and shapes will all inevitably vary, much like one person’s face is different to another. We know all apples have a lot in common, but if you painted every one of those apples exactly the same, the authenticity of the subject would be lost.
With hand-made and hand fired ceramics, when purchasing and displaying still life objects, such as a bowl of apples and other fruits, you will want it to look as unique as an apple itself. Therefore, you will want the artist making the ceramic apples to incorporate the choice and variety available from one lot of apples to another.
Common varieties of apples include the Granny Smith, Bramley apples, the Red Delicious and the Golden delicious. Each of these create a feast for the eyes, in terms of colour, that is enough to make your mouth water. Penkridge Ceramics, of Walsall, West Midlands create and stock all of these varieties of apple and more.
Penkridge Ceramics use all their own glazes, with each ceramic apple being given a number of glazed layers in order to create a depth of colour and a real texture to each individual apple. These hand-made ceramic apples are cast directly from nature, and can include a regular apple shape along with some still life sliced ceramic apples. Stalks are included using unique materials, picked for the level of authenticity they produce, making the objects look real. Some ceramic apples can even be created with the look of twigs and leaves still attached, as if they have just been picked fresh from the tree. Even the blemishes and slight imperfections painted and glazed onto the flesh of the fruit adds to the realism and beauty of each of these ceramic apples.
Penkridge also make monochrome ceramic apples, which look absolutely stunning, using all of the pleasing shapes and rustic looks provided by the common apple, mixed with matt glazed paints or crackle glaze. A choice of other fruits is also available for purchase, allowing you to add to your collection, and display a selection of fruits together with your ceramic apples.