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The demonstration workshop that I attended this past weekend is yet again on my mind for this blog. One of the comments that the instructor made was that he had reached a plateau earlier in his career and had wanted to go higher. That comment led me to think about my career. It has been full of plateaus and climbing higher.

Plateaus are not all bad. They are a chance to focus on and fine tune familiar techniques. However, after a while, most people feel stagnated by the flat top of these plateaus and want to climb higher in their skill abilities, through knowledge. One of my climbs came when I started doing trompe-l'œil paintings.  I described some of my thoughts about trompe-l'œil in my earlier blog, “You mean that’s not real?” Creating the art of deception using trompe l'œil technique…but is that all? I had never heard of the technique and had thought it was something new. Upon researching it online, I realized how wrong I was! It has been around for centuries. There are guidelines for creating trompe-l'œil pieces that I talked in that earlier blog, so I won’t repeat them here. This pumkin painting is created on a flat piece of board and everything is painted that you see. This technique intrigued me, so off I went, climbing up, up and away from the plateau that I inhabited at that time.

Climbing out of a plateau of skill level is always exciting but intimidating. The fear of failure always raises its ugly head, but I have learned to just ignore it and have fun exploring the new concepts that lead to the climbs out of plateaus. What’s the worst that can happen? Just finding out that a particular technique or style is not right for me, that’s all….. period….. nothing to be afraid of.

The story I am telling in Trompe l’oeil series: Pumpkin Pie Today! is partly about my love of autumn and pumpkin pie. Our weather in Wisconsin has turned much colder; the leaves have turned into brilliant hues and are now falling. Around the neighborhood, pumpkins, squash and cornstalks are starting to show up as decorations on porches, by front doors and along driveways. The smell of pumpkin pie baking in the oven, with its scents of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves wafting in the air of the kitchen and spreading through the rest of the house is one of my favorite fall aromas. Anticipation builds while waiting for the custard concoction to finish baking and cool. I like to eat pumpkin pie when it has cooled to a temperature where it is still somewhat warm and then add a dollop or two of butter pecan ice cream. A light flaky crust is all that is needed as a foil for the rich, golden custard in this dessert.

The story that I tell in this painting is also about the transitions from summer to fall. Colors change from the dominant greens of summer to be replaced by the bright red, orange and yellow colors of fall. Fresh fruit desserts are replaced by the oven-baked varieties, adding welcome heat to the kitchen.

This trompe-l'œil painting was one of my early attempts to climb out of one of my plateau levels of creativity. It is very simple compared to some of my subsequent trompe-l'œil pieces. The anticipation of something good to come, was the main point that I was trying to convey in this painting. The anticipation of good things to come to your art career by climbing out of a plateau level of skill and going to new heights by trying something new, is what I want to convey to you in this blog. Who knows what wonderful experiences await you above your current plateau? Don’t let the fear of failure get in your way, just go for it!