"Waiting #5" Waits No More

This watercolor painting won a merit award at the Southern Arts Society in Kings Mountain, NC recently.  Just as it came home, I got a call from a volunteer for Safe Alliance, an organization that helps victims of domestic abuse.  She asked me to donate to an art auction that will benefit Safe Alliance, so "Waiting  #5" will be on its way to another adventure.  I hope it finds a good home.

In case you're wondering what the #5 in "Waiting #5" is about, it's the 5th in a series of "Waiting" paintings I've done over the last few years.  It's a theme close to my heart, because I feel I waited most of my life trying on different lives, occupations, interests before I found what I want to do the rest of my life. Although I loved to draw and was once an art major before I switched to English literature, I never painted a painting until 6 years ago.  When I painted my first painting, it came out whole, and I've been painting ever since.  Waiting no more.

Judgment

Entitled, "Judgment," this portrait is meant to remind you of that critical facility--both in other people, but especially, in yourself-- that judges your behavior, your talent, your values, your beliefs and finds them wanting.

Veiled

Here is another in the series of portraits I have painted from photo references taken from the online Library of Congress.

Lovely Phone Visit

I got a message the other day from a woman saying she was disappointed to learn that "A Cotton Bride" was sold. She resonated with the painting, she said.  She'd picked cotton as a child.  Did I have any prints of it?

I called her back and we must have talked for an hour.  I hope we keep in touch.

I sold "A Cotton Bride" too early.  I had just finished it and was planning on entering it into  a local show in a month or so.  I was having lunch with a group of women who all take Pilates at the same studio.  Someone asked what I was working on.  I happened to have a picture of "A Cotton Bride" on my cell phone, so I passed it around.  When it got to the end of our semi-circle, the last woman said, "I want to buy it."  She let me enter it into the show before she took it home.

I know "A Cotton Bride" is an "inspired" piece, and the feeling it evokes is strong in certain people.  It's very gratifying to in turn inspire someone else through my painting. I live for that painting that comes out of nowhere and makes you realize you were just the vehicle, not the creator. Perhaps "A Cotton Bride' is the first of a series, but every time I attempt another cotton bride picture, I am disappointed in it because it is a merely a shade beside the original.

Portrait Series

This is the first of my series of portraits done from old photographs as reference.
I went on to add some very subtle color to this, but I must not have taken a photo.
I found an new canvas size (24 x 30") that lends itself to these portraits.  I bought
a dozen of them and I have at present done 10 paintings.  I'll be posting one a day.

Telling a Story

I come from a long line of storytellers.  My father was a hoot and my sister shares many of his storytelling characteristics.  I took my storytelling to poetry, but found I didn't have words for some of the things I wanted to convey.  I wanted to suggest.  When I returned to art, it was to tell stories with images.

I call this new painting "Berets Instead of Perfume."  Can anyone guess what story I wish to tell about these two girls?  I'd love to hear your comments!

"Cotton Princess"

This is another of my paintings about cotton picking in the south.  Children worked in the fields with their parents doing as much as they were able (and probably more.)  I abstracted the cotton plants to look like victorian wallpaper in stark contrast to the lives these cotton pickers supported.  Thank you for visiting. (Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48")