W.A.R.M.s my heart......

Generous   watercolor   17.75 x 12.25

Artists are barraged with requests to donate artwork.  Sometimes it is exhausting....therefore, we must be selective and truly support those organizations in which we believe.  In this "having" culture of ours, women and children are sometimes considered to be possessions(Erich Fromm To Have or to Be).  Sad but true.  Women are still abused and battered.  Also true.  The majority of students in art schools are women.  Yet the opposite remains true as far as gallery representation:  the great majority are men.  In my 1960's hippie girl days, I believed that we had reached a turning point in equality.  Not so.  Change takes a long time.  Minds are not easily educated. President Obama is still trying to legislate equal pay for women.  Evolution  grinds slowly.  We Americans love to possess things.  

Standing Rock Cultural Arts and Women's Art Recognition Movement (W.A.R.M.) is sponsoring its 9th Annual Silent Auction to benefit safer futures and the Portage County Battered Women's Shelter.  Lots of artwork to bid on.  The opening is Saturday, March 6 at 8 pm.  at the North Water Street Gallery....257 N. Water Street in Kent, Ohio.  The auction and the bidding end at 5 pm on Saturday, March 20.  Gallery Hours are Thursday-Saturdays 1-5 pm.  Call 330.673.4970 or 330.686.9800 for further information.

I think Mrs. Bryner would approve.

Will the real Mrs. Bryner please stand up?

 

Mrs. Bryner in Her Garden 1 and 2   watercolor/gouache   20.5 x 13.5

Many years ago I photographed a local woman Mrs. Bryner in her garden. She is a retired school librarian with massive vegetable gardens who charmed the socks off of me. Four paintings resulted. That is a dangerous thing. When there is more than one, comparisons are made, and an inclination to like one the best. Two paintings sold within a few years. I then assumed that the remaining two paintings were somehow unworthy and they sat in their attic boxes for years. I recently unearthed them and found that I like them both! (despite having two many hard edges for my current-day liking) I felt Mrs. Bryner's charm shining through. Liking one more than the others is dangerous. There will be other moments, other years, other preferences, other likes. And twenty years hence I discovered that they all are Mrs. Bryner. They all have something wonderful to say about my subject.