Soon Warren, Garlic, watercolor, 16 x 20.
Anyone who’s ever looked around their kitchen after a cooking or baking session and seen art knows just how visually beautiful culinary items can be. Artist Soon Warren, who hails from Fort Worth, TX, had that experience when a ray of light from a nearby window illuminated a bunch of garlic bulbs she keeps in her kitchen for the many Korean dishes she cooks. “When the sunshine hit one of the layers of the white, fluffy skin, it was magical how the thin skin layer turned translucent,” Warren observes. “I decided to set up this garlic as a still life, and from then on I have been painting garlic as a main subject instead of a side prop.”
The resulting painting is remarkable for the delicate way it turns an ordinary object into something beautiful. Working with layers of watercolor, Warren chose a monochromatic palette of primarily purples. Pale lavender creates the skin and provides a luminescent glow; shades of eggplant add dimension and depth; and deep burgundy creates gorgeous shadow shapes throughout. A pale lavender similar to the lightest shade of the skin unifies the background and foreground, keeping the focus on the main ingredient. It’s the careful handling of color and value shifts that makes this painting come together seamlessly.
As a full-time professional painter and international workshop instructor, Warren has a full plate, but she finds purpose in sharing what she has learned with others. She earned her associate degree in commercial art but was primarily self-taught in fine art, so she knows firsthand the importance of passing on knowledge and insight.
Find Warren’s work at Your Private Collection Art Gallery, Granbury, TX; Southwest Gallery, Dallas, TX; Art Gallery Prudencia, San Antonio, TX; and www.soonwarren.com. —Allison Malafronte
This story appeared in the December 2021/January 2022 issue of Southwest Art magazine.