It’s week 4 on this still life and I worked on the pot, the leaves and the #%**$@& Christmas balls. I always put a reflective element or some difficult piece into each still life to challenge myself. The reflective spheres are tricky to render as I knew they would be. Ellipses elude me too. The opening of the plant pot is this painting’s ornery ellipse. Next week, I will continue with these visual vexations. But challenging myself is how I learn and fortunately I have an excellent teacher who calmly guides me through these puzzling technical problems.