In anticipation for my upcoming exhibition Moments in Bloom at Wynn Bone Gallery, I would like to share the process of painting Placeholders.
Unlike many that I share, this painting came together very easily. The painting is based on a source photo taken in my backyard with my sister mimicking a ritual of hanging laundry. This act took both of us back to experiences we shared at our maternal grandparent's house. Memories of times spent at "Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw's house" fill our hearts with warmth. Martha's namesake is that of my maternal grandmother, and technically that of my mother as well. Her fair skin is also a legacy of those genes. My grandparents lived their entire lives in Chester, South Carolina. Their modest house featured a vast and open backyard, lots of green grass and a wooded area with swings and picnic tables. Entire summers were spent in that space. We feasted on "Chilly Willy" popsicles and homemade peach ice cream. They always had a large garden, I shucked buckets of corn and snapped many peas under those trees as a child. Nostalgia is certainly the right word for my feelings about that place.
I hope you enjoy Martha as a placeholder for those memories.
Unlike many that I share, this painting came together very easily. The painting is based on a source photo taken in my backyard with my sister mimicking a ritual of hanging laundry. This act took both of us back to experiences we shared at our maternal grandparent's house. Memories of times spent at "Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw's house" fill our hearts with warmth. Martha's namesake is that of my maternal grandmother, and technically that of my mother as well. Her fair skin is also a legacy of those genes. My grandparents lived their entire lives in Chester, South Carolina. Their modest house featured a vast and open backyard, lots of green grass and a wooded area with swings and picnic tables. Entire summers were spent in that space. We feasted on "Chilly Willy" popsicles and homemade peach ice cream. They always had a large garden, I shucked buckets of corn and snapped many peas under those trees as a child. Nostalgia is certainly the right word for my feelings about that place.
I hope you enjoy Martha as a placeholder for those memories.
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| Placeholders, oil on canvas, 24" x 24", 2013 |