September Still Life

September is one of the months that inspire me the most to create a still life image. My preferred still life work entails using elements from nature, and in September there is so much Mother Nature bestows on us: lots of the colourful summer blooms still persists; red berries, like rose-hip, rowan and pyracantha are springing about, and various lovely fruits have ripened and are being picked.

This year I have gorgeous rudbeckia thriving in my back garden, thanks to our lovely neighbour who gave us a few plants she had grown from seeds. I admire it every day and I thought, with its heavenly looking golden flowers and dark centres, it would be a perfect subject for a seasonal still life. The little set of jam jars in wicker casing beckoned to me from a kitchen shelf, and I thought of blackberries and blackberry jam as good additions. I bought some blackberries from the local supermarket, but didn't get round to making jam this time. I also chose some greengage plums and red figs to put more shapes and autumn colour into the composition.
It had to be a dark, country cottage feel still life, so I used a medium grey fabric background and a dark grunge texture layer in postprocessing.