A Still Life Oil Painting in a Garage

One Garage Door, Two Bricks and an Odd Stone

A Still Life Oil Painting That People Aren’t Likely to Paint

One Garage Door, Two Bricks and an Odd Stone is a still life oil painting of a quiet, cobwebby corner of a garage hiding from the dappled sunlight just outside the door.

The Backstory

I love exploring scenes that I might have ignored if it weren’t for “something” that drew me in. This collection of objects has been by the garage door since before 2014, though I have no idea how it first came together. Before then, I hadn’t seen my grandmother in about a decade. But life has a way of leading you back, and a broken relationship with a broken man sent me straight to Nana’s, where I felt safe.

To earn my keep, I took on tasks she didn’t enjoy—like cleaning the garage. I remember asking if she wanted me to move the brick and stone by the door, but she said no. ‘That stone’s holding up the garage door sensor,’ she told me. It wasn’t, but I left it alone.

Reference Photo

So, the brick and stone has sat there for a decade now. In 2022, they were joined by a hummingbird feeder. I thought it was funny that Nana had added to the pile, but not taken anything away in all those years.

Description

The reference photo for this still life oil painting captures a garage scene with a brick, an odd stone, and a hummingbird feeder, all trying to evade the incoming light.

Some Color

If you look, you can see where I’d sketched out the bird feeder beside the brick. I didn’t want to paint it because I was having enough trouble planning the other aspects of the painting. So I turned it into a paver and am glad I did.

Description

This in-progress view reveals the early stages of the still life oil painting of the garage corner, highlighting the emerging colors and textures. I’m starting to explore light and shadow within the composition.

Artist Statement

I was drawn to create this still life oil painting by the quiet brightness of an everyday scene: the way the dappled sunlight fell across a simple blue wall, and how it made me chuckle because of a tiny memory. It’s a scene most of us pass by without a second thought, yet I noticed it twice in my life—enough to feel it deserved to be captured and remembered.

My hope is that, in looking at this painting, you pause to consider the unnoticed moments around you, the everyday scenes that come alive in the right light. Our days are filled with these small, ignored beauties, and by stopping to really see them, we turn fleeting moments into lasting memories.

AI Critique

Light and Texture: An Exploration of Everyday Beauty in a Garage Scene

One Garage Door, Two Bricks and an Odd Stone reveals a scene in a garage, showing a slightly opened garage door with a loose seal hanging down, two bricks beside a stone that is in almost complete shadow, and dappled light outside the door filtering inside to illuminate a flat-pile carpet on the garage floor.

It isn’t the simplicity of the completely ignorable scene that sets it apart, but the dynamic lines leading the eye through the details of the still life oil painting to the far side where the viewer realizes, “Oh. This is an everyday moment that I normally wouldn’t pay attention to.” And with that, the visuals sweep into focus and an exploration of light outside of the garage compared to inside the garage begins.

The light and shadow complement one another, making each stand out on its own merit. The shadows create depth and an entryway into the dim garage. The light teases the possibility of taking over the garage floor, if we would only open the door a bit more.

The earthy colors of browns and grays play nicely with the blue of the sunshine outside the door, while the red bricks lend a pop of color to an otherwise forgotten, shadowy corner. These are not your usual type of bricks; they are solid pieces without holes, making one wonder what project lies unfinished or how long these two extra bricks have taken up space in the garage.

The textured application of paint enhances the realism and tactile quality of the surfaces, from the roughness of the floor to the smoothness of the dirty garage door. The varied brushstrokes and layering create a rich, tactile quality that is enjoyable for the eye and mind.

This scene takes me to a place of introspection where a couple of bricks and an open door might well tell a story of the person who lives in this house. But deciphering that from this limited view probably is not possible. Which leads us back again to thinking “Would I notice something like this in my everyday? In my garage?” It makes me want to find these scenes at my house.

This still life oil painting transforms a dusty corner of a garage into a place of solitude and peace. The attention to detail and the arrangement and interplay of the elements is evocative, inviting me to reflect on the beauty found in everyday moments.

Art Specs