Fall Field Asters by Jack Beder is a 12 x 9 pastel drawing acquired directly from the estate. he season transition of fall flowers to the cold winter would be the starting period for Beder to create still lives in the warm confines of his house. A quote from his eight-hundred-page journal about the process talks about the drawing's paper backing: “Finally got around yesterday to do a pastel of flowers I bought from the field. Worked almost all afternoon on it. Tried some dark purple paper I had for a long time, believing it would be a nice effect, even if some of the colour shows through. It does.” The purple backing is not the only pop of colour in this still life. The bubblegum pink petals have hints of royal purple, with the yellow coloured centre. The perspective of the house walls shows a quiet corner, where a painting is leaning against the left wall, a minimal brick pattern on the wall above the bouquet, and the right side adorning a leafy green plant with a bright orange pot on the other side. The tinted jade green container brings your eye back to the table that sits the flowers.

This piece was displayed in our Rookleys exhibition, Jack Beder: Life and Art in Canada.