What is Still-life?

     Still-life is the showing of an everyday object depicted in a painting or drawing or sculpture. More importantly it helps an artist understand lighting and shading. Still-life can be tracked back to Egyptian art, but it is still used in the modern world. Some artists like to make still-life portraits traditionally, but some have taken a new approach to it.
     I chose this image, Made in China Blue painted by Gigi Boyle because I really like how the color of the white and blue stood out from the brown background. I also liked the amount of extreme, careful detail. I liked the way Boyle shaded it, it looks like the sunlight is shining into a darker room from a window. The bright blue and the stacked bowls drew my attention. I love the way Boyle shows the precarious balance of the stack of bowls. This could influence my work by making me want to use more detail, but still concentrate on the bigger picture and create a beautiful painting.

How might any aspect of this influence your work?