Life in First Impressons

Life in First Impressions

With life come first impressions, from birth to the end whether we honor them or not, they are a true thing about us, The control we have over them is questionable, even when we are trying to think about it. If I am true to it, my imagery will be honest, as the first time I glimpsed a thing. That is the challenge - to leave the essence with each stroke of the knife or brush. It's the reason we put so much stock in the images produced by children. There is no editorializing, no second guessing, just the first true thought/vision - no hint of everything going on at the time whether pleasing or excruciatingly mundane or tragic or sad. I have found over the years that a pleasing sight is what I want to paint. I know the moment I see it, I want to carry it with me. I will want to see it again and feel and smell that moment again. Painting somewhat realistically requires a lot of looking at the object to be painted, both ahead of time and during the painting process. It is for that reason I choose not to paint death, illness, injury, mutilation, abuse and a whole host of life experiences which for me, have carried enough pain in the living.

The image categories portrayed in this show, represent 2019 and 2020 work. Almost forty years of impressions have included these groups and other broad categories such as the human figure, bas-relief, and sculpture/furniture made of paper.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Girls just wanna have fun is a very personal experience, A daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a friend, an employee, an artist. On just about every level, I've lived and observed the lengths to which we females, at all ages, will go to have a good time. I am, of course, painting within the levels of decency here.

Masquerade

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

 

Come As Your Mother Party

Christmas Party

Grotesques - Not to be Confused With Gargoyles

Grotesques are the height of first impression for me. I saw my first ones during a high school field trip to Washington and the National Cathedral. I was captivated, I expect much the same way children are captivated by fairy tales and horror stories. Over time, I realized they appeared more often than not in my work and travel life. I found them so compelling, I started researching them and I began to photograph and paint them with the intention of portraying a being into which some creator had breathed life, yet through stone. As It turns out the grotesque life is quite an active one. In our country, the National Cathedral is adorned with one of the best collections, not to mention the many university and business buildings displaying them. They are prominent features as exterior architectural adornment for buildings worldwide. Although they are medieval constructs they have taken their place in modern society with Star Wars and Lord of the Rings represented along with many others.

My primary immersion came with a job at Rosemont College in Philadelphia, PA. Rathalla, a Renaissance Revival Chateauessque style mansion, is the central building on the campus. Joseph F. Sinnott, a Whiskey distiller, purchased 40 acres and had Rathalla built. It is a 2 1/2-story, 32-roomed stone building on a brick foundation, the exterior of which is laden with 52 carved limestone images, an impressive array of grotesques and gargoyles.

Oak Mask and Lily Mask appear above and on either side of Rathalla's main entrance. The Three Little Grotesques appear in various positions around the base of the second floor.

 Lily Mask

Oak Mask

Three Little Grotesques

Welcome To Zuccari Palace

I tried to name and place the next two images to no avail. Finally, I contacted:

Janetta Rebold Benton, Ph.D.
Fulbright Scholar, China
Fulbright Senior Scholar, Russia
Distinguished Professor, Art History
Pace University, NY

Dr. Benton is one of our country's foremost scholars of medieval imagery. I wanted to know specifically, whether the two figures flanking the front door had any historical distinction. She wrote back: "The figures that flank the doorway are, correctly speaking, not gargoyles but grotesques as they do not spout water during a rainstorm--the identifying ability of a gargoyle. To my knowledge, they do not represent anything specific but are in the medieval spirit. Each crouching man responds fearfully to the lion-like creatures that approach."

They are lovingly named Man Spirit I and Man Spirit II. The entrance they are flanking in this show pictured above is the north door into Zuccari Palace above the Spainsh Steps in Rome - Welcome To Zuccari Palace.

Man Spirit I

Man Spirit II

Travels - Sometimes Rainy

Oriental NC can be a wet place. Seattle was a wet place. Travel anywhere can be an iffy experience in the rain. So many ventures begin with, will I need an umbrella or just a hood? Over time, an umbrella became a permanent fixture for all occasions. Wellies, the shoe of choice, and I have to say, I do love the look of things after the rain. Then, there is the good fortune of sunny Paris, early morning fog on Cape Breton in Nova Scotia and a crystal clear day in Patras, Greece.

Paris Metro

Morning Drive Cape Breton

Midday In Patras

Rainy Day Shopping

Rainy Night In The City

Rome Showers

Rainy Night At The Met

Food

Part of living. Reason for living. Makes living possible. Makes living a celebration. Isn't the first sight, the first whiff, the first pour, the first taste sometimes enough to die for? Just kidding.

Oysters On The Half Shell

Let's Have A Glass Of Wine

Sushi Baby

Start Of Harvest Celebration

North Carolina

My home state, a place I've always been proud to be from. A place I left to make an adult life. A place I've returned to, to grieve the the loss of much of my family. A place I was never sure I'd return and retire to. Yet, on spring days when the sun is just right, or on summer evenings as the orange bursts over the watery horizon of the Neuse, or in winter as dusk approaches walking my dog past the shimmery tree reflections in the pond, I can feel so much of my girl life hovering around. I am glad to be back, enjoying the natural pleasures that this beautiful state offers at every turn, any time of day or night, no matter the weather.

Oriental Harbor At Dusk

Quiet Ecstasy

Swains Mill

Immersed And Rising

Full Moon Over Topsail

Oriental Sunrise

Portsmouth Island Morning

Carson's Snowy Day

Flowers

The mundane everyday things are sometimes harder to pigeon hole because of the frequency with which we experience them. Calling up first encounters with them is sometimes challenging but not always. Paula's Lilies is a painting in the flower section of this show. I can't believe I finally painted these lilies. I inherited them with my present house and never liked them because they rarely made it through a few days before turning brownish and withery. I kept digging them up and giving them away. But they persisted, came back with a vengeance and are showy as long as they hold up their pretty faces. It's easier to paint something that speaks to you, opens you up. All of the other flowers in this section squealed, "We're glorious, aren't we".

Everything's A Gift

Paula's Lilies

Jeanne's Pomegranates

Geranium

Painting Titles

A Wet Night At The Met - diptych (each piece 12 x 36) oil on canvas $1300

A Christmas Party - 24 x 30 oil on canvas $1200

Carson's First Snow - 20 x 30 oil on canvas $650

Come As Your Mother Party - 36 x 36 oil on canvas $1000

Everything Is A Gift - 12 x 36 oil on canvas $750

Full Moon Over Topsail - 22 x 30 oil on canvas $875

Geranium - 20 x 24 oil on canvas panel $750

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - 24 x 30 oil on canvas $1000

Jeanne's Pomegranates - 24 x 30 oil on canvas $750

Immersed and Rising - 30 x 40 oil on canvas $900

Let's Have A Glass of Wine - 20 x 24 oil on canvas $750

Lily Mask - 24 x 30 oil on canvas $975

Masquerade - 24 x 30 oil on canvas $1200

Man Spirit I - 30 x 40 oil on canvas $1600

Man Spirit II - 30 x 40 oil on canvas $1600

Morning Drive Cape Breton - 24 x 30 oil on canvas $825

Oak Mask - 24 x 30 oil on canvas $975

Oriental Harbor At Dusk - 24 x 20 oil on canvas $850

Oriental Sunrise - 30 x 48 oil on primed linen $1400

Oysters On the Half Shell - 24 x 20 oil on canvas $750

Paris Metro - 24 x 30 oil on canvas $900

Paula's Lilies - 20 x 30 oil on canvas $750

Portsmouth Island Morning 40 x 30 oil on canvas $1200

Quiet Ecstasy - 24 x 12 oil on canvas $650

Rainy Day Shopping - 20 x 24 oil on canvas $850

Rainy Night In the City - 20 x 20 oil on canvas $850

Rome Showers - 40 x 30 oil on canvas $1100

Start Of Harvest Celebration - 20 x 24 oil on canvas $750

Swains Mill - 30 x 40 oil on canvas $1100

Sushi Baby - 24 x 20 oil on canvas $750

Three Little Grotesques - 3 x 6 x 6 oil on wood panels $100 each/$250 for the three
Welcome To Zuccari Palace - 24 x 30 oil on canvas $1200

Bio

My art education began as an adult in the Upper Valley of the Connecticut River on the Appalachian Trail, a “spiritual place” that nurtures the time, space and breath needed for aesthetic exploration. My mentor for eight years was Aidron Duckworth, PhD, sculptor, who had worked and taught all over the world. I completed a degree with the human figure as my focus followed by eight years of formal drawing and painting instruction. My final study, When God Was a Man, was completed at Norwich University with a thesis and full gallery show. Through the years, I have been fortunate to be included in juried shows and galleries as we have moved around and traveled from east to west coast and back, Europe, Canada and Mexico. I have taught in public school, in business and privately. Now, with a lot of passed time and many responsibilities fulfilled, I find myself once again in a spiritual place on the NC coast, with time and space to work and paint with a passion that one cannot enjoy while “life” is happening. For many of us a busy life has not allowed en plein aire all the time, every painting session. Recognizing this has meant that if at the moment, I realize I am going to want to visit this image, this feeling again, I had to understand deeply, being present, take it in and yes, take pictures. I have cherished and revisited the images I have carried for several decades. I have looked at them over and over, considering them for painting. Interestingly, the images which made the cut originally are still the ones I favor when I revisit them. But the major thing that has emerged is the timing in which I finally thought I could tackle a particular subject. In other words, not until I felt I was ready and competent. Along with that knowledge has emerged what takes a lifetime to know and develop. How has my personal involvement with the imagery and experience around me moved me from observation to inspiration to paint. I am an oil painter. An alla prima oil painter. It means my painting is immediate and wet and hopefully my first impression survives time and process to appear on the canvas. I hope you enjoyed the images.