Margaret Morrison makes evident that she is a painter’s painter in her recent body of still life canvases. Tablewares is at Woodward Gallery’s exhibition windows this Fall season on view 24/7. Morrison sets her tables with silver antiques, porcelain, glasses and vases. Densely packed shiny offerings impress with reflections she achieves on the surfaces of her objects. The level of detail in Morrison’s realist compositions is utterly extraordinary, galvanizing her expertise, layer upon layer.

“I often worked on Atomic 47 while standing up, because it allowed me the freedom to step backward, to gauge how the reflection in one object would work in another. I probably logged a few miles a day just pacing up and back as I painted,” Morrison muses.

Known for teasing the viewer with light and shadow, Morrison here offers up just a glimpse of a plot. We become detectives compelled to trace the events left seen in her tableware scenes. The closer we look, the more is revealed. At 72 x 96 inches each, masterpieces Atomic 47 and Keramikos emphasize Morrison’s zest for making the ordinary appear larger than life.