2012

The fellow on the bike was painted in oil from a photograph taken by a young friend last summer on a visit to our missionaries in Bangladesh. I'd hoped to capture something of the crowded streets. There were many images that I also hope to paint, but it takes so much to process all that is shown in the photos that I have to take it slowly.

 

 

 This somnolent living room scene is taken from a shot posted on FB by a friend and I really liked the composition and the light coming in from the window.  I also love calico cats (though neither calico who has lived in my house had a pleasing personality, and I have come to the conclusion that the breed is more decorative than devoted.  I am far fonder of the grey tabby and black siamese-sort who currently reside with me, though they are less photogenic.

boys waiting for snow cones

Always drawn to other children, my grandson finds friends everywhere he goes. As we waited in the long line to buy snow cones this hot June day, he watched for a moment, then joined three other boys climbing on the roots of this great tree. Comfortable in his own skin - you gotta love that.

Harbingers of Hope

A Depression-era woman works a tiny garden as her daughter looks on (wondering when the harvest will be in!). It was inspired by this Depression-era quote: "Somehow, you can't help but feel hopeful, watching things grow." There will be a show of similarly-inspired works at Centenary's library, opening October 25th.

bathtime

Sitting in the kitchen sink, this baby loved to play in the water, trying to figure out just how to catch those bubbles. The image of those baby hands grabbing at the falling water are always in my brain, a happy memory of the way we try to make sense of the world around us. So much to understand!

after Hopper

Arguably my favorite painting, especially the play of light and dark, this is one of my early efforts to replicate a painting by one of my favorite artists, Edward Hopper. It was very hard for me, all straight lines and sharp contrasts, but I felt good about it when I finally finished and I like to look at it on my wall. Hopper called it "Summer Evening" (you can see the original at
http://www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=c&a=p&ID=1172), and I think it's one of his most evocative works. Like many of his, it begs the viewer to imagine the story behind it - what is going on with this couple? I love to think of what they might be saying to one another (or is it only the boy who is talking, trying to convince her to believe him when he tells her he loves her?), and wonder if they are not about to break up (I think so). The light of the porch, and the strip cast on the grass beyond, fill me with nostalgia - for what I am not sure. It looks so innocent, all pinks and blues, but they are not innocent. She is most assuredly guilty, if only of breaking the boy's heart, which she has surely done. Or perhaps he has stood her up to go drinking with his buddies, or to see another girl. It is definitely of another time, and I never understood the blue ceiling until it was explained to me as "haint blue" - designed to keep spirits away. Is there someone just inside the door, overhearing the conversation? I think yes - the younger sister of the girl on the porch, who is about to run inside and throw herself on her bed in tears over the boy in the blue shirt she left on the porch that summer evening.

Three for 2009

• This was the first painting I did after my grandson was born in 2005. He was brand new when he met his only living great-grandmother here. She was almost as proud of him as his mom and I were and had dressed up to meet him this day - so dear.
• No one I know, this writing fellow reminds me of my husband, white shirt and glasses and cigarette and all (he quit years ago, but could start up again in a heartbeat, he's told me). He's a writer, too. And I love that this guy still uses pen and paper.
  
  

Emmitt -

This sweet pup lived for many years with a family as devoted to him as he was to them - through injuries, accidents, failing health. One day last fall, he wandered away into the woods on a visit with them to the country and was never found. I suspect he knew his time was nearly up and wanted to save his dear friends the sadness of nursing him in the end, so loathe to let him go. I like this picture of him, fading out - partly somewhere else, where he can run and chase squirrels to his heart's content. If there are no dogs in heaven, I don't want to go there, but I feel certain that the God I know would surely want these family members to be there with Him!

Montreat Boy

A boy who meets the world head-on, Wells is not a kid who would let something like a little fence keep him from somewhere he needs to be! He is a love and completely at home wherever he goes, surrounded with new friends he hasn't met yet - what a gift! Here, he is peering over the fence at Lake Susan, in Montreat, N.C., a place we both know well and love.

Love

These are three more members of the family of the happy girl in the yellow sundress - her aunt, uncle, and cousin. I tried to capture something of the peace that radiates from their eyes - but peace is hard to see; it's something you experience. I wish there was something I could do to pay back some of what they have done for me, in doing for others what I cannot do (they are medical missionaries to Bangladesh), but there really isn't. So I painted their pictures because it made me not feel so useless and because I wanted them to know how much I love them.

red rocking chair

Girl with a red bow, red gingham dress with rocking horses, perched in red rocking chair - irresistible! She is watching some unseen activity or person just outside the picture, and so seems unaware that she is being observed.

Nina and the Yellow Dress

What could make a girl feel happier than a new yellow sundress? Twirling around and around in her grandfather's garden to show it off for the camera, Nina radiates a joy that comes from being a part of a family overflowing with love. She is the daughter of a beloved friend who once was the favorite babysitter of my own daughters.

Maggie and the watermelon

Our precious Maggie is a funny girl, and this painting makes me laugh everytime I look at it. This was her first experience with watermelon, and the look on her face reminds me of Robert McCloskey's character in Blueberries for Sal, who carefully ate every blueberry she picked.

supper

This boy eating his supper alone (loosely based on a painting by the amazing Carl Larsson called "Evening Meal" - see the original at web site below) reminds of those times when I would be left at the table alone to finish a meal, long after everyone else had finished. I can't remember telling my own children "You're not leaving the table until you eat your supper!" but I may have done so, cruelly echoing my own mother's imperative. This child doesn't seem to be bothered much, whatever his reason for eating alone may be; maybe he is just got hungry and is eating his supper early, not waiting for anyone else. I wish every child could sit down to supper whenever she felt it was time to eat and be fed without thinking anything of it, as I did, as my children did, as my grandchildren do. http://scandinaviantreasures.com/website1/pages/CLEVEN1.htm

at the beach

These three friends are playing in the chilly waters of the Pacific. I always wondered about the veracity of paintings of children at the beach wearing sweaters and jackets, but have learned first-hand that even ice-cold ocean water is no deterrent to a child! Naturally, the lovely tow-headed daughter of my former teaching buddy is the smartest, leaving the water after a quick splash.

baby cups

When you paint silver, you are really painting whatever you see reflected there. Most of these cups came to me from my dear late mother-in-law and I treasure them. One is monogrammed and dented, and I can almost hear the clatter of it banging on the metal high chair tray of the toddler who would grow up to be my husband. His mom would certainly have let him use it. I gave up using the precious silver spoons my children received as baby gifts after the last one took a spin in the disposal. The tall goblet has my monogram and came to me as a bridesmaid's gift from my cousin's wedding long ago. The champaigne I drank out of it that day did it for me forever. I love that cup, not because of the champaigne, but because of the memory it holds of the tow-headed boy cousin who took great delight in filling and refilling it for me that long afternoon.

Ronald and Martha, circa 1930

I have a very few pictures of my dad as a child, like this one with his sister, wearing coats, but I can't imagine why. They lived in South Florida, where winters rarely required more than sweaters. They were the fifth and sixth of eight children, so it is hard to imagine there having been money enough for luxuries like coats. They do look sharp, though, in their 1930's haircuts, my dad's arm around his sister's shoulder. He was no doubt trying to keep her still for the camera. He kept that arm around others' shoulders all of his life, hoping to keep them out of harm's way.

cousins in summer, l950

In this painting of my Florida cousins, they all look pretty serious. They were most likely just blazing hot. Just outside the painting, on the step, were the little foot and handprint impressions of the siblings who lived in this house, which my uncle built for his family. My dad used to tell the story of how he would buy as many concrete blocks as he could afford, then build on the house as far as he could until he could save up to buy more blocks.

worried about displaced pets

My friend Dixie looks concerned about all of the evacuees and whether they'll have a safe place to stay - and rightly so. So many displaced folks - so many dogs.

summer girl

I thought this sunburned girl would be an appropriate way to say goodbye to summer. She isn't my own grandchild but that of a dear painting friend, and I couldn't resist trying to capture her. I think she's telling the kid behind the concessions counter that she regrets asking for strawberry ice cream (who wouldn't?) and now needs a new chocolate cone, instead. Pink was easier to paint, though.

Beach Boy

Discovering the Atlantic ocean - even in jacket weather - opened new horizons for our water-loving boy. More rocks to throw and shells to pocket. the water was freezing cold but he wasn't deterred one bit.

Art Imitating Art

Mary Cassatt painted "The Young Girls" in about l885; the expressions she captured are unsurpassable, and I hoped by attempting to duplicate her work to sharpen my eye for the gestures which truly convey personality and emotion. I like to imagine what these two might have been thinking as they posed for the artist. Best friends, maybe cousins who delighted in one another's company. I remember feeling that way about my own cousins.