Deciding what to paint is not always an easy task. This is true even when one already has a specific theme in mind - a landscape, a still life, a portrait or a floral arrangement. The still endless possibilities for each theme almost always lead to indecision and inaction.

I was once browsing a book of classical paintings in 2003, while in a similar state of paralysis, when the "bright" idea of creating a painting by combining cut-outs from old masterpieces hit me.

This was how the model for this featured painting came to be. In a desperate effort to jumpstart a new project, I resorted to this cut-and-paste method which resulted in a triangular composition with the conch shell cup as the main attraction and the shells, platter, fruits, flowers and drapery as supporting cast.

This collage of Old Masters became my guide for this piece, and so, it should not be surprising if many of the items in the picture sound familiar.

I was still a neophyte then, a time when my primary concern was just to paint forms correctly, obsessed on realism but understandably oblivious of other equally important elements of a good painting like linear and aerial perspectives, unity, variety, harmony and contrast.