Finding Subject Fodder in the Mundane

Wabi-Sabi Still-Lives and Landscapes

Jan 25, 2025

The beauty of the intentional, and the unintentional, willy-nilly subject. I never pause for more than a minute to decide my composition in a landscape or to decide what my best still life will be. Often, my favorite pieces to work on are the unconventional view, perspective, or subject.

left: dropped fruit. center: a pepper that fell off the plant from wind. right: an old, overheated flower

The unconventional or mundane can be a number of things, such as taking the viewer’s gaze too close to the subject, like a moment in time. Or it may be the obscure beauty not normally seen, but looked for. Then we capture it. If I’m looking at flowers, I may look for the buds that haven’t quite opened, or the one that is past it’s prime, wilting and dying. I look for the wind damaged, torn leaves, the tree with the broken branches from a storm, or instead of a bouquet of flowers, I’ll drop them on the table haphazardly and depict them as they fell. These are the subjects that move me in the art of others, as well as the art I make myself, even if just a sketchbook spread. It makes me want to look into it, see what’s there, look at the negative space, the color strokes, and the way the composition wants me to look closer.

left: a wilting carnation and overly ripe fruit. right, a wilting, dying rose.

You may be aware of the Japanese term Wabi-Sabi. Wabi-Sabi refers to finding the beauty in the imperfect, and the impermanence and transient nature of everything. It’s finding beauty in the mundane and imperfections. The word ‘Wabi’ translates to less is more, and the word ‘sabi’ means attentive melancholy.

top left: wilting tulips. top right: weeds in the garden. bottom left: hibiscus way past their prime. bottom right: day lilly past it's prime with dead tree leaves at it's foot.

I think the strive for perfection in our lives causes too much stress and is at it’s core unattainable. In Art? Each Artist and each Patron or Viewer must decide for themselves what they believe is perfection in art. I think at the highest levels it is never the perfect subject matter. Sometimes, just the way something is portrayed, the composition of it, or just the way it’s rendered, leaves the viewer in a state of uncomfortableness. It makes the difference between a piece being ‘sweet’ versus thought-provoking. It makes you want to lean in for more information. This also equates to the art of music, literature, movies, etc.

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