I just completed a new painting for a group show with the Three Rivers Artist Guild. The show is entitled The Art of Food, and I've been chairing the committee to get the show organized. I had ambitious ideas about a painting of a sushi chef I know who works at the local Market of Choice, but in a pinch, I ended up doing this variation on a still life. I am intrigued with bentos in general because they are, inherently, works of art. This is a fantasy bento--rather than painting one from real life, I looked at hundreds of photos of bentos and chose the contents I thought were most beautiful in combination with each other. The painting is acrylic on canvas board, 12 x 9 inches unframed. A painting like this takes me at least 20 hours, not including the time spent researching/referencing and composing the sketch. I'm quite happy with the finished painting.
