"The Present"

     In keeping with the holidays, here's a painting I got as a bonus--one that painted itself.  Don't you love it when that happens?  I am increasingly using the process to guide me rather than having a photographic reference, using random marks to find the image which I coax out of what's there.  In this case, I tried to paint a nonobjective abstract, but this young woman intervened.  Thanks for looking and may you have a wonderful Christmas!

Gift Bearers

I recently submitted this painting to the online contest sponsored by University of Georgia.  Their "Kress Project" (Google it for information) is a collection of Renaissance religious paintings and altar pieces which they asked artists to respond to in any medium.  I was inspired by the three Madonna pieces and chose a revisionist view of wise women bearing gifts.  I hope you like it!

New Painting Provokes Comments

I found the original photo online of a woman dressed to the nines but with tennis shoes on.  What intrigued me was the orange stucco of the background and the crocheted skirt.  In the original picture the woman had the butt of a cigar stuck in her mouth!  She had a fan but it was at a different angle.  She was in a different chair.  Her face was totally different.  When I sent this painting out to a group of friends I got some very different reactions.  Most were bothered by the tennis shoes.  Some wanted more in the background.

I have not finished this painting, but I had to stop and re-evaluate it.  I think the shadows need work (especially on the right side of the chair.)  I would appreciate any helpful comments.  Thanks!

"Laundry" Makes the Cut

My painting "Laundry" was selected to be in the 22nd Annual Juried Competition of the Arts Council of York County (Rock Hill, SC).  I feel honored to be included in the show for the fourth straight year with a different judge each year.  Especially so, since I've only been painting that long!  Of course, I was always waiting to be an artist, but I copped out again and again--quitting art in college for literature, teaching English for years, taking an occasional drawing class.  Always saying when looking at art, "I could do that!"  Well, one day I had a "sit-down" with myself and said, "How many years do you think you've got?"  

Please take a look at my older posts as well.

"Composition in Shape and Shade"

I have the windows open and the birds are giddy.  We should all be giddy after the winter we had.  I know we're lucky to live in the mid-Atlantic, but still, compared to most years...

I'm posting my new painting "Composition in Shape and Shade." (Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48"). I'd love some feedback.  For instance, my mom wants to know the little boy's name, what he's looking at, what he's reaching for.  I tell her it's not my intention to tell those things.  I'm just asking the questions!

I hope my (awkward?) title tells you that the subject matter is not important for me but that I'm exploring light, shade and shadow.  This painting is from a photograph I took on Spring Maid's pier in Myrtle Beach a couple of years ago.  I was fascinated by the light patterns on that November morning.

"Pointer" Sells

 My painting "Pointer" whose story is below, recently sold.  This painting is the first that went to complete strangers, and my husband and I had mixed feelings about its sale.  I knew some details about the couple, but Larry Elder of Elder Galleries, in Charlotte, did not give me their names.

My sister is a professor at U of Florida, and one day when she was walking with a fellow professor, she told the woman about the painting, describing the couple as I had described them to her and as Larry Elder had described them to me.  My sister's friend said, "I know them.  They're friends of mine." She told me about the couple, and now I feel like I have "placed" the painting with friends. My goal is to get invited to dinner at their house so I can see my painting hanging in their dining room!

"Pointer" Set to Travel

My painting "Pointer"has been included in the Elder Gallery's traveling version of "Carolinas' Got Art," traveling for a year in both North and South Carolina. I am honored to be included, as 39 pictures were chosen from 1800 entries.  "Pointer" is 48 x 36"acrylic on canvas.

I should tell you the miracle of "Pointer," I guess. More than two years ago, I found a photo on the internet on which this painting is based, and in transferring it to my files, I lost the source.  I thought it came from The National Archives, but after trying unsuccessfully to locate it again, I basically gave up.  When it was accepted into the recent show in Charlotte and they asked us to write where our inspiration came from, I tried again to verify my source, going through some 4000 photos on line, to no avail.

Imagine my surprise when two days later I was browsing eBay's antique photos, the very photo I had downloaded more than two years ago popped up for sale.  The owner had indeed put it up for sale before and it had not sold.  She was offering it as an "Buy it Now" option.  She and her husband travel the US buying stuff to resell, and she could not give me any details.  The photo was included on a torn- out photo album page and included some other characters and some children playing on what may be a porch of the antebellum house in the background of the photo. So now I own the photo on which my painting is based, and I feel more at ease about it.