This is the first of my “inside the chicken coop” series of still lifes. The odd conglomeration of junk interested me: the shapes of the old speed limit signs, hubcaps, wooden boxes, metalware, lanterns, and dishes were a challenge for me. Many photographs were taken three years ago at a friend’s house. I wondered if the shapes and odd elements in their jumbled placements could be connected together to form an interesting composition.

It is a busy design unified by the gray-green color and tonal areas. The yellow ochre and nickel azo yellow add warmth. A few warm and cool reds move the eye around the painting. I particularly liked the green road signs and the angle they led into the composition. The design is a happy, cluttered area full of shapes that I have never painted and I felt I was up to the challenge. The overlapping shapes add depth and the round shapes of the hubcaps and metal tins are repetitious. The lantern and thermos in the foreground lead your eye into the clutter of shapes and back around all the elements.

This painting was beyond the usual still life material for me — no fresh bright-colored bouquets. There are possibly more designs inside the coop in the future.