Painting Isn't a Spectator Sport

Dynamic Still Life (Fruit), by Kim Lee Kho, 2011, acrylic on paper, roughly 12" x 18". Painted in a one hour session (finished details in my studio later), this was composed dynamically while walking around the reference material.

Still life. The term sets up our expectations: stillness. How much more interesting though to defy those expectations and paint one that not only looks dynamic but was built and composed dynamically, while walking around the table with the reference objects. 

I painted this in 2011 as a one-hour activity for our mentorship group at the Burlington Art Centre (the now Art Gallery of Burlington). It would be fun to show you how different everyone's paintings were. I didn't have a very good view of the table, so I got up to sketch in the elements with paint. While doing that I made decisions, moved things around, edited some out, abstracted others. Then I went back to my table to paint, occasionally getting back up to take a closer look, to see what papayas actually look like, or what was essential about a cantaloupe that I wanted to convey. I should also mention that this is painted entirely using a spatula, no brushes or "proper" painting knives.

The result is what I call 'Dynamic Still Life (Fruit)', a staid but referential (Futurists) title for a refreshing experience of active looking and perspective-changing.

What do you do to shake up your own perspective?