Contemporary still life painting

Morning Coffee, 24"X36", acrylic on canvas, 2009, gallery wrap

"Morning Coffee" is a decorative piece created using an abstract layer of smeared acrylic paint, overlaied with classical realistic painting. A horizontal canvas with black, blue, purple, gray and orange-brown background creates tonal and color contrasts. Paint marks are expressively broad and intertwined, add an impression of movement. Complementary palette continues in the still life of a coffee cup and a plate with croissant painted over the background. "Morning Coffee" is available for purchase on eBay at a great price.

Maxim Grunin - Biography

I was born in Russia in 1975 and attended art lessons since childhood. I hold masters in Fine Art from the University of Waterloo.


 

Award Recipient Maxim Grunin MFA

In 2007 I was nominated to receive an Honoris Causa. The recipients of this award are selected by The National Ethnic Media And Press Council of Ontario. Every year one or more people are nominated for the award by every ethnic community media office. The candidates have to have a history of contribution to their community. I was picked by the Russian media due to my close to 8 years involvement in private art education. Newcomers and art students of Russian background often lack the information on how the Canadian fine arts education works. I shared my personal experience via media interviews, documentaries and articles. As a result many enthusiastic students of Russian background enrolled in art programs throughout our province. When I came to Canada in 1992 there weren't many resources on what a competitive fine arts portfolio was or what were the steps to getting an undergraduate or a post graduate degree in art. Canada was a new country with new rules.

Time- lapse Acrylic Painting of an Alley

Another time-lapse of step by step painting. I look at a photo of a scene I like, sketch it onto a canvas with a brush and begin to render by building up the layers of paint. Starting with thinner more diluted dark colors helps to establish the contrast in the work. Little by little I would apply progressively more "fat" thicker paint marks using a palette knife.

Articles

Click on the links to read articles written by Maxim Grunin

A Look Inside The Studio - Photos of artist's studio
The Imagined Thoughts - Artist's statement
Landscape painting in acrylics

Displaying paintings - Tips on hanging paintings in order for them to look great