Saints Among Us

I've always been fascinated by saints.  The stories, the histories, the miracles and the art...not to mention the icons, the relics, the lore and, did I mention, the art.  So without any special saint to call my own I decided to claim several, canonize them, paint them, light a candle for them and then share them.

This dozen admirable women are truly saints you will want to meet.  Some you may already know: Saint Jane of the Generous, Saint Amy of the Adventurous and Saint Kathy of the Courts. 

Others, Saint Sharon of the Survivors, Saint Christabel of the Been-to-Hells, and Saint Wilda of the Wise are saints you will admire and strive to emulate.  They all have miracles to share and they all have walked in our shoes.



If you know art you might detect a bit of Modigliani's influence in the style of portrait.  I love his portrayal of women and found it very freeing to paint from the heart instead of a photograph.  While several of my saints don't recognize their image as fully as others do, to me each portrayal is painted from a careful inventory of memory and imagination.  The book explains the deliberate choice of icons, colors and backgrounds chosen to further each story.

My saints will be hanging at the ArtWorks show in Eau Gallie, Nov. 23 and 24 along with my other work.  But you may order the book on-line by going here.
It's priced at $12.99 which makes it a very affordable gift to share with others.  Get yourself one but don't forget to order a few to share.

Today modern heroes are in short supply, they all seem to be falling off their pedestals rather quickly.  But real saints never put themselves on a pedestal and never held themselves up for example. None of these women ever thought of herself as a saint but each gave me permission to share her story.  If you've been needing a modern day miracle-worker to relate to you will enjoy "Sainted & Painted: Stories of the Not Wholly Holy."

ARTfully yours,
Cindy

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.