Establishing a Rhythm

Majorette   oil/canvas   24 x 8 x .5

When I was a young girl, a little girl, I was in awe of Jan, a teenage girl who lived across the street in our little neighborhood of post-war brick cape cod homes in Akron, Ohio.  Jan was a twirler, a majorette, who practiced in her yard....her baton catching the light as it spun around, sometimes high into the sky.  She caught it deftly and continued her routine.  On game days, she emerged from her home in total regalia.  My memory of her costume has faded, but those heavy white leather boots with giant tassels are embedded in my mind. 

My own experience with baton twirling was short-lived.  I guess I just didn't "have it".  It may have been limited coordination, or, perhaps, interest.

This work of a drum majorette was inspired by a vintage photo of my husband's aunt....probably taken in the late 40's. 

Figurative work is my favorite.  For me, it has evolved into a sublimation of the facial features along with the placement of several focal points, established by choice, to lead the eye around the entire figure and its posture.  The regimentation of the twirler is reflected in her posed stance.  Discipline.

And the....there are those boots.

Some time ago, another astute artist picked up on my method at a local critique.  He was quick to point out the use of the multiple focal points.  We seem to love and to need a focal area in the work....why not several?  They actually create their own rhythm.

Intensity

Intensity- L.   oil/canvas   16 x 12 x .5

is a quality that I share with L., a painter who has been in several of my classes over the years.  He holds a full time job and has a wife and two children.  His plate is full.  And, yet, his drive to create art is admirable, and sometimes painful, as he struggles to find TIME TIME TIME.

This painting was made at a final class session where the assignment was to create a painting by simply watching and observing  someone else at work....an artist who is in constant motion while observing the subject of his/her own painting.

This assignment is tough, but allows one to get at the "nitty gritty"...the important stuff...big shapes and simplified forms.  I did take a photo and did a few minor corrections at home, but was careful not to overwork the simplicity that had been achieved during the session.

I have found, over years of observing and drawing people at work, that a person will resume one of two or three positions continually, which helps with clarification, if only you are patient.

Ah, yes.......INTENSITY and PATIENCE.