All creative juices stopped flowing with the onset of Covid19. With our new “stay at home” orders, I was not gaining inspiration from nature as I normally would do. I felt lost in the studio; uninspired and perhaps a bit depressed by the world around me. And then I came across a quote by Georgia O’Keeffe I had seen years ago: “I found that I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way - things that I had no words for.” I have always felt the same. I decided to trust those shapes in my mind, and perhaps during this time of isolation, I could put something down on paper; make some marks and rekindle my voice.
At the same time, the Women Painters of Washington is organizing a show to mark the organization’s 90th year anniversary. We are to pay tribute to the past 90 years of women’s history.
This piece is the “sister” piece to one I posted earlier titled “Those Who Came Before Me.” This one, titled “Tribute,” is a continuation of that theme. I feel gratitude towards women artists who came before me (Georgia O’Keeffe, Helen Frankenthaler, Emily Mason and Joan Konkel).
The gentle curves in this piece are found in several places in my life: sailboat sails, bird’s wings, tulip petals, etc. These gentle curves seem to be a part of the “saying things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way.” The color palette is calming and hopeful.
38x30 inches, light-fast colored pencil on museum board