Collection
At the Table
A tea setting, a jug of flowers and a porch table bring art into familiar spaces.
Afternoon Family Tea
M. Donna GoodAt the Table brings together three paintings with a table at their heart: Afternoon Family Tea, Red Bing Cherries on Linen Tablecloth and Gruene Table on Front Porch. Two are still lifes set indoors, and the third takes the table out onto a sunny porch.
Afternoon Family Tea gathers a tall blue metal pitcher, a round glass vase of flowers, a violet teacup on its saucer and a plate of round pastries. The objects sit close enough to feel part of the same occasion, and the title suggests a table set for company.
Red Bing Cherries on Linen Tablecloth spreads its arrangement across a striped linen cloth. A deep blue jug of yellow and orange flowers stands at the center, and red cherries lie in clusters at the lower left. The pink and white stripes of the cloth bend with every fold.
Gruene Table on Front Porch moves the table outdoors. A wooden table painted deep green stands on a pale plank floor in full sun, holding a row of potted plants and a handwritten card. Its long shadow falls toward the lower right, which places the sun high and to the left. Gruene began at a crossing on the Guadalupe River, three miles north of New Braunfels, and the entire town is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The three paintings share an eye for ordinary things. A cup, a cherry, a clay pot and a handwritten card all receive the same patient attention as the flowers. Each table is a small stage, and each painting sets a bright surface in front of a softer background.
Try looking at the spaces between the objects as well as the objects themselves. In the tea, the pale wash of cream and rose behind the vase lets the flowers spread to the top of the sheet. In the cherries, the warm pink cloth fills the lower half of the painting, a bright stage for the blue of the jug. On the porch, the cool blue shadows on the boards follow the grain of the wood toward the table.
Then return to the whole painting and see how the objects settle into place. The tea and the cherries also hang together in Still Life, and the porch hangs in Texas Places.
The Paintings
Afternoon Family Tea
M. Donna GoodWatercolorA tall blue metal pitcher with a lid and a looping handle stands beside a round glass vase of coral, red, pink and yellow flowers. In the foreground, a violet teacup with a gold rim rests on its saucer, and a plate holds a stack of round pastries. The flowers are painted loosely, with soft edges and colors that run together, while the pitcher, the cup and the pastries carry crisper edges and clear highlights. That contrast lets the bouquet glow softly behind the objects on the table. A few strokes of white turn the dark pitcher into polished metal.
Red Bing Cherries on Linen Tablecloth
M. Donna GoodWatercolorA deep blue jug with a band of small painted flowers stands at the center, holding yellow and orange flowers with dark centers. A linen cloth of pink and white stripes folds and ripples across the table, and the stripes bend with each fold. Red cherries lie in clusters at the lower left, each with a small white highlight. The blue of the jug is darkest at its sides and lightest where the light falls across its front, which makes it look round. The deep red centers of the flowers echo the cherries below.
Gruene Table on Front Porch
M. Donna GoodWatercolorA deep green table stands on a pale plank floor in full sun, holding a row of potted plants in terracotta and wooden boxes. Its long shadow falls toward the lower right, which places the sun high and to the left. A handwritten card hangs from the front edge of the table, the kind of sign a porch shop uses to name its plants. To the left, a garden path opens in soft blended greens. The porch boards are laid in long strokes of warm gray and cream, with cool blue shadows that follow the grain of the wood.