A still life of flowers rendered in such dense tones that whites become
mid-tone grays and even negative space carries the sense of weight occupied
areas possess. There is hardly any edge definition to speak of, resulting in alternative
elemental treatment controlling eye movement. |
The subject of this still life is fully developed flowers in a glass vase set
against a background of a bookshelf. The dense treatment of the subject matter
is what one might expect to see if he or she were attempting to paint this
still life in the evening without any local light. Instead of ambient light,
there’s a sense of “ambient shadow”.
Shadow (value) is the first identifiable element. There is hardly any light,
resulting in a similar scene as would be seen by human senses under the same
lighting conditions. Shapes are recognizable, both in the subject and in the
background. Color is hardly better than minimally recognizable; a dense and
muddied complementary scheme is used.
Very subtle adjustments in value are used to establish space. Some overlap and
a hint at diminishing edge definition from foreground to back is secondarily
used. The heavy use of dense values and the stability of the
subject matter result in a very stable, even “heavy” composition. Beyond value and vaguely-defined shapes, the organic forms that populate the
foreground overwhelm more rigid and highly blended ones of the background. There
is hardly any balance to be found, and contrasts are quite muted for such a work
of fine art.
The dark nature of this work cause the (relative) highlights of the peonies to
be quite effective at attracting attention. This is followed up by the somewhat
purer reds and greens used to create the rose forms. The picture frame is so close to the subject that it comes close to cropping
slivers of the subject. This indicates the intimate proximity of the viewer to
the depiction.
The integrated and highly stylized use of thick, dark values, nearly amorphous
shapes and blended edges create a composition that is globally noticeable as a
continuous object even more than the individual objects within the picture
plane. The mind next instinctively unwraps the overlapping shades to reveal the
objects in both grounds. Phelan elegantly reveals an unexpected way of
harmonizing shapes and colors but muddying colors and reducing value ranges to
a much more restricted area. 
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