Delta Dawn
This piece was created in reference to our first sustained investigation piece, golden hour. My initial idea was to do something that echoes the colors of the original piece as well as the other pieces in my portfolio so far, however, I wanted the contents of this painting to be an inverse of Golden Hour. This painting includes a wild landscape to contrast, golden hours well manicured garden, and it features a young girl in adolescence to juxtapose the old woman in the original. This piece goes along with the seasons of life theme that I’ve been going with, this piece would represent spring or summer, depending on what I decide to do in the future. It goes along with my question, how do you have your moment in time?/How do you capture a moment in somebody’s life? This piece is quite a bit more impressionist in style, which contrasts with golden hours' more expressionist style.
Spring Going On Summer
The inspiration for this piece is taken from two films, the pose from 13 and scenery from The Sound of Music. This is the fourth and final piece of the series of the four seasons. This one is set in summer and represents the teenage period of life. It’s different from the other pieces in this series, in that it has more people, and people’s faces are more directly shown. I did this so that it would stand out from the rest, because it is the period of life that I am currently in and is most special to me. I also think it's a very special time in a person's life, in the sense that connection with others becomes the focal point, and other things tend to blend into the background. I made sure to keep the motifs of the direct sunrays, though I allotted a specific sunray for each girl’s spotlight, to emphasize everyone’s individuality and journey. I also chose to keep a similar color palette to the other four, and I stuck with having a flower motif, daffodils (my favorites) and for-get-me-nots, as a reminder to cherish the memories and friends while we have access to them. I took reference images with friends for the pose, then I used graphite paper to trace it onto the canvas. I sketched in the background and added an underpainting, before adding additional layers over a period of time to get the varied effect of color and value.
And Betty when You Call Me, Call Me Al
This is my 3rd piece of the main 4, I wanted to focus on the shift into motherhood and particularly how it is reminiscent of the change in seasons. While Delta Dawn and Golden Hour are very much sister pieces, I wanted this one to be a little more separate. I pulled from the ideas of seasons of life, making the right side of the painting autumn, and the left side spring/summery. I also attempted to make the left side more expressionist, and the right more impressionist to match the ideas in the other paintings. I carried the flower motif into this one with tulips (my mom’s favorite flower) as well as the use of light beams, this time in a different color and direction to try and keep the painting from being too repetitive. I also named this piece after me and my mom’s “song” which contains both of our nic-names.
Golden Hour
How does something still capture movement or allude to a broader story? My original idea included change as my broad theme. I started this piece thinking about the analogy “seasons of life” where old age is often referred to as winter. I set this painting during the evening, with the subject being an older woman. Both of these subjects allude to the idea of an ending and can be interpreted as a bad thing. I also choose to make a focal point the snowball bush flowers, still full of life, juxtaposing the idea that old age is something dreary and dying. I started with an underpainting, utilizing all the bold colors that I wanted to show through the rest of my painting. I tried to convey with my brushstrokes the idea of movement/life. I choose to view this work as just a snippet of someone’s life, instead of an end credits scene. I hope to inspire curiosity in the audience, and that they will want to know more about the backstory to this image.