Saints I Have Known

Anyone who knows my work knows that I enjoy working in "series."  A series is several pieces that somehow relate to one another whether it is by subject, by media or some other connection.  I love this because it keeps me focused (therefore I learn a lot!) and it makes for a cohesive collection to show or hang together.  Sooooooo

A new series..."Saints I Have Known" is in the works. With apologies to Modigliani I am painting saint-like portraits of real people I have known who have influenced me with some outstanding quality.  The humorous explanation is that being raised a Methodist I was deprived of all the benefits of the saints my Catholic friends came to rely on and I was, indeed, a bit jealous.  As I got older I realized that I had plenty of saints in my life, they just had not been cannonized.  So I decided to honor them in my own way!

But I have to laugh as some may not feel so "honored" when they see "their" painting and wonder why they look as they do......ah, the beauty of artistic license!!  Me and Modigliani...we see a reduction of detail, the nuance of line, the power of symbols and the vehicle of color....that's my story.

 

 

You will also note that the sidebars are a collection of symbols done in line.  I've never been very expressive with my doodling and figured this would be another way to get plenty of practice as well as lend itself to a subtle frame.  Working with the gold gesso has also provided a few challenges and the lettering you see on these pieces was a photoshop mock up for notecards so that is yet another task I have to tackle in paint!

 

 

These will all be 20 x 16 when the series is finished and so far I have not run out of wonderful women to honor.  Hope you enjoy viewing these as much as I have enjoyed thinking of them and painting them!

Cindy

p.s. I tried to make the 2nd and 3rd photo large enough for you to read them but the "enlarger" button refused to appear once again....probably an operator error, my apologies.