Morning breakfast 1987

Dmitry Nalbandyan made this painting, Morning Breakfast, probably in the 80's, with oil on canvas. You know, looking at it, I think this is what painting is all about - a process of seeing and responding. The texture here is yummy, thick and juicy, especially in the cherries. Look at the tablecloth, how the blues and whites mix and dance, creating a rhythm that your eye can follow. The way the light hits the metal of the tea pot - a real balancing act between capturing the light and just slapping it on the canvas. What I love most is how each object is given equal love and attention, how they are all sat down together at this table in paint. Nalbandyan reminds me of someone like Fairfield Porter, who also found a way to find the extraordinary in the ordinary, turning a simple breakfast into a symphony of colour and light. Ultimately, it's all about the questions the art provokes, the conversations it starts, rather than any easy answers it might offer.