Blue Plate special (aka You Been Served!)

Trompe l'oeil n.: a type of painting intended to deceive the eye; illusionism.

I love the idea of both functional art that is useful around the home, and the trompe l'oiel art style, so I thought I'd try and combine the two on this ultra whimsical wood breakfast serving tray. (Of course it's not limited to breakfast; you can serve ANY meal; lunch, dinner or even a snack on it!)

I decided to create a delicious, mouth-watering breakfast consisting of two sunny side up eggs (sprinkled with pepper), 3 great big greasy slices of bacon, and two slices of buttered toast, and of course there's a nice hot bubbling cup of joe to wash it all down with.

For those of you who don't know what a "blue plate special" is; here's the scoop from wikipedia:

"Blue plate special is a term used in the United States by restaurants, particularly (but not only) diners. It refers to a specially-low-priced meal, usually changing daily.

In contemporary use, a "blue- plate special" can be any inexpensive full meal, any daily selection, or merely a whimsical phrasing. A travel columnist says that a Portland, Maine eatery offers "budget blue-plate specials along with more refined fare." The Turner South cable channel calls a daily movie selection, scheduled at lunchtime, its "blue-plate special." Mystery writer Abigail Padgett's second novel about amateur sleuth Blue McCarron is entitled The Last Blue Plate Special; no meals here, the blue plates are part of the decor at a clinic where patients are dying mysteriously. A reviewer uses the headline "The Red, White and Blue Plate Special" for a review of a book on "Diners, Bowling Alleys, and Trailer Parks." There is of course (at least one) blues band named Blue Plate Special."

Each element in this painting has a shadow that is being cast from it to add depth and believability to the whole, and the individual shadows have colors reflected in them as well.

One of the challenges of this piece was to create realistic looking reflections in the silverware, which, if you look closely, you can see; there's a reflection of the blue dishes, (the cup and plate) as well as the yellow of the tray, and of course there's pure white light being reflected as well.

As a finishing touch, I stuck on a black and white checkerboard pattern that borders the inside of the tray, that, in my opinion, adds to the feel of an old-time, greasy spoon diner. FUN, FUN, FUN!!

This is quite functional art, and can be used to serve that special someone breakfast in bed at any time. I think anyone would love to receive this whimsical and fun breakfast tray, and it would make a fantastic gift!

Thanks so much for looking!