A painting of a painting by Marjorie Firth

Marjorie, you obviously have a real talent for the still life paintings. This has a lovely soft feel to it. I don't think putting a plant instead of the tray would do it any favours, there being different things below the painting allows the eye to be drawn to it. A plant would clash with the vase of lilies in my view. It balances at the moment.

I tend to agree with Annie. But then I am always in awe of your paintings Marjorie. The possible only teensy critique I would make is an overall tonal value and sameness . Just a thought.

Thanks both of you. Sylvia, I'm going to glaze the dark areas more and maybe then we might see some variations....at the moment I like the left diagonal but the tray is a sticking point.

Beautiful Marjorie. I love the softness of this painting - I see where Sylvia is coming from as I think a touch more contrast wouldn't hurt, but that said I think it works really well as-is.

Excellent still life Margorie, I concur that a plant probably wouldn’t work. I think the darkening of the shadow areas however, will produce a central shaft of light that should make it sing. Probably needs to be darker than you think.

I have read the thoughts on contrast Marjorie and at first though the same myself BUT I think that would destroy the beautiful style you have of capturing those soft atmospheres one sees in your paintings. The golden area in the right hand corner is balanced with the left hand corner of the chest which evokes depth. If one half closers ones eye you can see the painting does have depth. Thats the beauty of the painting. The only thing, and its just my view, is if you cover up part of the top it tends to sharpens the composition.

This is all good advice. You've got me thinking.

Beautiful painting, Marjorie... I would leave it just as it is!

Beautiful soft colours and lovely palette. I've read the comments below which were interesting, I don't feel qualified to critique so will just say that I like it very much.

Beautiful painting and great subjects!

This really is an eye catcher, Marjorie. I do love the soft colours.

hi Marjorie it looks great as it is id be reluctant to mess with it its lovely

Beautifully soft and harmonious Marjorie, love the shaft of light. Reading comments (I'm no expert) but I think darker contrast would spoil overall softness for which you are famous ;) please no plant as your lilies are enough ( I think) and I like the tea tray.

I would be happy with this.......love it

I like the light pastel like feel this has Marjorie, if in doubt, why not try another version, rather that possibly ruin this one?

Sarah, Sandra and Jan, thanks for taking time to look. You're all confusing me now. And Dennis, Mia, Carole and Peter, big thanks. It's on a shelf at the top of the stairs at the moment, waiting....

Thanks Stephen. In fact, this is what I also thought - do a quick version. I think I'll try that.

This is really effective. I'm not very good at composition but I like the tray and think a plant might spoil the balance plus the lovely colour harmonies

Found it now - and not by typing 'Marjorie' either, as some genius recommended on the forum (ooh, I do bear a grudge!). I wouldn't try altering the basic composition, or replacing plants with trays - not in this painting anyway, you can also do another; very many artists produce several studies of the same subject. What I would do, conscious of the points made about retaining the softness, is crispen a few edges, particularly in the foreground: there clearly is a light source, and the shadow areas exist but are too undifferentiated for my taste. But I do have a rather literal mind, so - you might well object that this could distract attention from the focal point; I'm not at all sure it would, but see the danger. At the same time I also see that cloth in the bottom right - and one or two other objects (eg, the drawers of the chest, perhaps the cups and vase) which do seem to me to be requesting a stronger touch of tone. You suggest a glaze on the forum - that could work well on the foreground without giving you any sharp lines.

I think its just right as it is Marjorie, I love the shaft of light across that tray which you wouldn't get if you changed it for a plant and the plant would distract from your Lilies.

I like it as it is - your lovely style - I like the softness of the colours and feel there are enough darks in the flowers and on the tray, also the two shades on the tray. I feel it is harmonious.

It looks just wonderful to me Marjorie, I like it as it is.

Beautifully painted Marjorie, lovely soft colours and composition

Thanks once again everyone for taking the time to look.

Well of course it's a well designed painting in the main. I don't terribly like the tray myself but not sure why... perhaps there are just too many items in it. Do you need it at all?, probably not, just add another sprig of those flowers perhaps, one can easily get carried away and overcrowd a simple study. Tonally, as has been said, could be raised a notch but very little as you could easily lose that sort of mystic look that you have achieved. I would sharpen-up a few bits as in the vase for instance, a few edges of leaves etc, it does look slightly out of focus. Having said all that Marjorie, it is a lovely piece and these are just my observations, the subtle pastel shades throughout the painting are delightful.

I find it is a very good painting, Marjorie.

Thanks Cesare and Alan. The uneasy feeling is that it's too crowded. Had a good idea, I'm going to use an art app to take out the tray and play around. Once again, thanks all for giving your opinions.

It's a cracker Marjorie

Cheers Michael! ( Finishing off the Argentine red, with help)

It's a fine painting just as it is. Re-working has never been a good idea in my eyes. If it doesn't work, paint it again or do something else. In this case, it needs nothing more. Just a view.

Excellent painting, Marjorie.

Does for me. Gorgeous soft touch. There is too much analysing going on. You stopped for a reason and that is because it's finished. If want a different painting pare it down with things and see which is you preference. Please don't meddle with this one!

Jim, Linda, Gudrun - many thanks!

This is a super painting Marjorie and I would leave the tray as it is. The only thing I would say is I agree with John Inkson about the top half but then that cuts out half of the painting in the painting which was your inspiration in the first place.

I like it as is it has a lovely subtlety about it

We all enjoyed that analysis and I came back to have a look!

Well I was surprised to see this had more comments, thankyou very much. It has been interesting, some of my own doubts were confirmed. Everything I paint is a learning curve and if I am honest, there are very few paintings I'm totally happy with. But this is good because when the good times come you really appreciate them.

I love the soft colours, and I like the tray. Time for a cup of tea... ;-)

Oh Jenny....you're just too late for the tea. Just yesterday I painted out the jug, teapot and tray, left the cup, extended the cloth and darkened the shadows. I used an art app first to help me decide. Good decision, I'm much happier with it. To finish, I'm adding some warm colours to the shadows and bringing in some violet here and there. Thanks for the comment.