Where to start? I subscribe to six
decorating magazines. However, I find my interest in these magazines has a
primary focus, that being the art on the walls of the featured homes. I am most
frustrated when a magazine doesn't mention the art and the artist, particularly
because it doesn't honor the artist. I've always been an artist, if not through
the physical manifestation, certainly through the adrenaline I pump when I am exhilarated,
thus inspired, by others’ art. Very often I lay down a magazine to go to my
studio and begin some new piece. I was inspired by an artist friend last
September. I visited his studio in Colorado. He works in oils. I had not done
that, having worked in porcelain, mosaic, watercolors and so many other mediums
over the course of my life, and I was so inspired that my entire trip home was
angst filled in anticipation of taking a new artistic journey. Now I work with
oils. I’m feeling my way. Finding my footing. Searching out a groove, a style.
Much as I try to resist, I often gravitate to portraiture. A throwback, I presume,
of a project I created a couple years back when, in watercolor, I painted 22
portraits of children, and with them was a featured artist at the Shiawassee
Arts Center in Owosso, MI. The first painting I entered into a competition won
honorable mention. It is called “Picnic,” and now resides in the home of my
Colorado artist friend.
Nellie is the sister of one of my portrait subjects. She is precious. When I was photographing her brother two years ago, she asked if I would take her photo. When she saw her brother's portrait, she wondered when she might receive her portrait. "I know right where I'll hang it," she told me. Arrrgh! I couldn't resist. I hope you like your portrait, Nellie. I will deliver it tomorrow. (March 1, 2015)
I am intrigued by animals and the detail that makes them unique. One such animal is this zebra. I chose just one portion of him to paint. I like a bit of tension in my animal portraits, and I find that the eye is the best detail on which to focus.
"Calculation" oil on gessoed board, 11 x 14
