I completed another seashell in my “Faded Beauty” series. Though it was not a conscious decision to start a specific series of shell paintings, it did begin with “I am a Shell” two summers ago. As I was painting this piece, a poem came to me which is a bit autobiographical, and so the painting […]
When Spirit Inhabits The Work
My friend and mentor of 25 years has taught me more than I can truly comprehend. In a recent conversation concerning my work she spoke of God’s willingness to manifest His glory through people. I begin my painting only after I have taken the time to quiet my mind. It is after all, God’s peace […]
Getting Lost in the Magic
“Spirits in the Sky” 36×48″ Oil on Canvas The photos are only a starting point. Somewhere in the process of painting I get lost in the piece. Accuracy is not important to me. I am striving to evoke an emotion. The positive and negative space in this painting are treated with equal importance. A dance began […]
The Paradise of my Mind
My best work comes when my mind is at peace. Life does “get in the way” and like most Of us I become ensnared by the challenges and noise of our fast paced world. There are times when weeks go by and I have found myself far from the mental stillness I often enjoy. I […]
New Year “Resolutions”
Resolutions A Christmas come and gone once more… Another year of one’s own lore, To contemplate and create anew… The coming year’s resolves, a few. To write upon the weary pages, Of one’s own heart, alive yet faded. Resolutions made and lost, Triumphs yes, disappointments, cost. To look at one’s own life and see The […]
“Through Light”
“Through Light” is a second piece in which I drew my inspiration from a photograph I took as a storm over the Gulf was breaking up late one afternoon. At one point the painting was veering off from the sense of peace I sought to portray. I let it be for a while, studying it and […]
Bridging Emotion and Realism
Bridging the realism and the emotion I feel when I hold a shell, this is my challenge.
If it is painted too realistically, it often results in a piece that does not express the magic
that I see. Yet, if a piece is painted with too much emotion, the realism is not sufficient to communicate to the viewer what there is to cherish in so common an object as a simple shell.
The same holds true for all of my work. There is so much natural beauty in so many places,
even still. If only people would slow down enough to really see.
A Piece in Progress
It is a challenge to create a painting which is interesting to look at in all areas and at all distances, from 10 feet away to very close up. That is one of my goals. This has not worked out to be an “impasto” piece as “Storm Break” is, which was my original intention. Impasto […]
Approaching Wonder
I was approaching the beach from the water when the photograph from which this piece is derived was taken. Due to the intense sunlight and heavy brush, the woods of the Deep South often appear black at the base when viewed from a distance. I find myself wishing to explore the mysteries that lie within […]
Saturday Morn.
I was inspired to begin another in the “Schoolhouse Beach” series by a friend who suggested I paint this beach more realistically. Though I have been commissioned to do several before Lori’s was started, I have done them all (a total of 7 now) with a lot of color added to the white rocks that […]