Name/Title
Three Garlic ClovesEntry/Object ID
2014.07.15Description
Painting
This small still-life depicts three garlic cloves sitting on a dark reflective surface. The individual cloves are covered in a thin and papery tan and whitish skin, and they all have subtle reflections of themselves, emphasizing their irregular but familiar shape.Artwork Details
Medium
Paint on canvas boardContext
Part of the lily or alium family, of which onions and shallots are also members, garlic is one of the most popular ingredients used in cuisines and traditional medicines worldwide. Garlic is also a potent and ancient symbol with a long history of use in magic and spirituality. It also considered a symbol of good luck and potent protection against poisons, spells and evil spirits in many cultures, including defense against vampires.
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With origins in Ancient Egyptian and Greco-Roman art, still-life painting emerged as a distinct genre and professional specialization in Western painting by the late 1500s, and has continued to evolve across the centuries attracting artists and patrons alike.
Be it a painting or drawing or other form of visual art, a still-life focuses on still objects. The subject matter is inanimate, typically with a focus on commonplace household objects, flowers or fruits. Other types of objects from daily life may also be depicted such as books, medicines, tools, dead game and more. Still-lifes can be done in any art style, not just as realistic art. And still-lifes may be full of symbolic meanings or may simply represent the artist's experimentation with shape, texture, colour, lighting, and placement. Still-life art can also portray complex themes.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
M. Sarah Amos. UCBC Member ArtistRole
PainterDate made
Apr 24, 2001Time Period
21st CenturyNotes
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Born in London, England, Sarah Amos is a Canadian artist and author known for her painting of interior and exterior landscapes, noted for meticulous drawing and brushwork. She moved to Vancouver at age 18, became a Canadian citizen and earned a B.A. from the University of British Columbia. Amos studied drawing with visual and performance artist, Eric Metcalfe, one of the founders of the Western Front Society. During the year 1980-81 she traveled with future husband and artist Robert Amos in Japan, Thailand and Malaysia. Since then she has devoted herself to painting, drawing, and many arts-related publishing and outreach activities in Victoria and beyond. Amos initiated and developed the popular Fairfield Artists Studio Tour.
Amos has been painting professionally since 1981. Exhibiting began with shows at Stones Gallery and the North Park Gallery in Victoria, and her paintings were taken up by Art Rental and Sales at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. She continued to exhibit annually, with solo shows at the Sandstone Studio on Gabriola Island and in her home studio. Her earlier images of intimate interior views are now more recently focused on exterior landscapes, or elements of landscape. She has worked in watercolour, gouache, acrylic, and now more often in oil. Annually Amos has been a guest of the annual "Painters at Painter’s Lodge" in Campbell River, B.C., an intensive gathering of artists with presentations, demonstrations, and panel discussions.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
Signature, LabelLocation
Signed upper right with monogram initials: MSATranscription
Verso frame on canvas art board:
Printed letter sized paper bio pasted centre.
Ink stamp above bio:
AMOS / 1129 McKenzie STREET / VICTORIA, B.C. V8V 2W1
Top of stretcher:
Red ink stamp: APPROVED NOV 06 2000
Printed paper label: Classic Gallery Framing / Kelowna, B.C./Ph: (250) 765-6116
Other framer numbers written on stretcher: 24x30, 6x8Dimensions
Dimension Description
Visible imageHeight
15 cmWidth
20 cmAcquisition
Acquisition Method
PurchaseNotes
Detail unknown
