-By Petar Meseldzija

A few years ago I did a photo session for a couple of paintings that were intended for a gallery show. I rented a few costumes, hired a professional photographer, and asked my wife to be the model. The photo session was intense and long, and it was quite tiring for the model. Now and then she rested for a while in a beautiful old chair. The scene with the model dressed in a nice costume and seated in that beautiful red chair was very tempting. I could not resist its appeal and had to ask the photographer to make a few shots of the scene.

Later on at home, I took another few photos of my wife in another costume. These photos inspired me to do a series of paintings that I named “Resting model “ series. While working on these little paintings I primarily concentrated my attention to the rendition of the various textures and drapery. In fact it was a very useful exercise that helped me further unravel the “secrets” of the  various textile materials and their textures. One of the questions that was often on my mind was how different is, for instance, the silk from the satin, and how to depict this difference in a two-dimensional painting and make it clear and convincing.  This is a skill that the old masters were so damn good at.