Still life that rewards a second look

Why still life

Still life is close-range art, so hang it where people actually stand near

The whole genre is built on small incidents of light on glass, skin and cloth, and those need proximity to land.

Landscapes can carry a wall from six metres away. Still life usually cannot. The detail that makes it good — a highlight on a jug, the bruise on a pear, the fold in a cloth — disappears at distance, and what is left is a shape. That is why these pieces do their best work in dining rooms, hallways, stairwells, studies and above a kitchen bench, where people pass within a metre or two.

Over a sideboard or buffet, aim for a canvas around two-thirds the width of the furniture and hang it 25 to 30cm above the top. On an open wall, centre at about 145cm. Dark-ground still life needs a light wall and decent daylight or a picture light; on a charcoal wall it just reads as a hole. If you are hanging two or three together, line up the table edges across the pieces, not the frame tops — it looks far more deliberate.

How your print is made

1. Choose the size and finishPick a size, then stretched ready to hang or framed. The size guide on every print shows it to scale.
2. Printed to orderYour print is made on canvas in Melbourne once you order, at the size you choose.
3. Stretched, framed, checkedStretched or framed in Melbourne, then checked before it leaves.
4. Delivered free, Australia-wideMade to order in 10 to 14 days, then tracked to your door. Thirty-day money-back guarantee if it isn't what you hoped.