Mixing Colors & Mixing Dough

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Creating a work of art gives one unbelievable satisfaction. Creating anything raises one to another level of understanding. Whether it be a poem or building a house, we get this feeling inside of being more than simply “present” in this world. Being proud of something is what life is all about. We see the future in our children and are proud of their accomplishments. It puts a smile on ones face when they do the little things that we don't even think about when doing. In my younger days I shoveled snow from around our church so people could get to church. For my sister and I it was just a fun thing, at the time though it was a little thing that made my parents proud. 

These days I take pride in my art. That I can put a smile on someones face without being present is what I am proud of. Dipping a piece of toast into my morning's coffee is a little thing that starts my day off on a high note. A baker, somewhere, proud of what he does, helps me get my day off on the right foot. Me mixing just the right color actually began in Leslie, Arkansas with a baker mixing dough. Other days it is the smile I get from the people at Jake's. I really believe the colors that make their way into my art come from the people around me. My dog Henry sees me off each morning with his version of a smile and a loud cheery plea not to go. He takes me through his day upon my return. Tells me of the squirrels scampering along the top of the fence on their way to raid the bird feeder.

A million littles things go into every work of art. Accepting these little things and returning them through our creations is art. Shoveling the sidewalks around church as a child became part of someone else's art, whether it was in a poem or a song sung during mass.     



Recognizing Real Women

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Another painting of a young beautiful girl, too young to have experienced real life and undeserving to be immortalized. I read a statement like this by an artist who is beginning a series of real women, but how is a viewer to recognize a real woman in a painting?

When I was 20 years old I hired a model who was just 19. She put me to shame when I complained about struggling to survive as an artist. She had been providing for herself for seven years, having left home when her dad began to abuse her. A thousand miles from home, on her own, she completed high school and had a job. Modeling on the side provided her with extra money that she used to extend her education. 

Most of the girls who work for me had other jobs - full time jobs. All were furthering their own education or helping a husband get an education. One 25-year-old was raising money for adult mentally handicap people to have a home of their own. She danced in a topless club to do this. Her feet were blistered, bruised and swollen from dancing. Another model was sending money home so her parents would not lose their home. These girls were earning their wrinkles and weathered look while they were young. Over the 50 years I've been working with young beautiful women I have heard some sad and some horrifying stories. All of them have become mothers and have raised some fine children. 

Not all models have had hard lives but not all have had easy lives. Several have gone onto become lawyers, one a veterinarian, another a professor of America Literature.

I've always enjoyed working with young, energetic women. I feel I am helping a bit with the money I pay them and by letting them study while posing. I've made a decent living from my art thanks to these girls. I've furthered my own education listening to them tell me about what they are studying. 

Very little of the tales told in my studio come through in my art, but if they do they enhance the quality I strive for and my own further studies of art. I am honored to have the opportunity to create my art from these real girls and feel obligated to do them justice on my canvases. 

While each artist feels their art is more than simple picture making, only the viewer can raise it to the level we desire.