An Artist's Journal:Paintings by Felicia Marshall

6"x6" acrylic on masonite When I was a little girl I, my brother, and cousins used to try on my grandmother's wigs and laugh at one another as we'd take turns posing in her mirror. I guess wigs aren't exactly in vogue anymore. Who can pass up a "big ol" hat, as we would say here in Texas.

6"x6" acrylic on masonite This was an image I attempted for a second time. I was definitely in "the zone" when I painted this little boy, because it was the first time I have painted anything in one sitting. Wow, it felt great to complete the painting in several hours. It's my little gem. SOLD

6”x 6” acrylic on masonite We happened upon a restraunt celebrating their grand opening and managed to get the kids past the jumpers in the parking lot with the bribe of face painting inside. At ninety degree weather, I’d say we got off easy. I love pattern! I don’t like painting it sometimes and other times I find it calming. This young lady's shirt was not calming, but I love the end result in this painting.

6”x 6” acrylic on masonite Okay, I think I am finished now. I can say that I spent a lot of valuable time that I did not have obsessing over this painting. In the end I’d say there are parts of both paintings that I love and hate. Three times would be a charm I am sure but, I think I am going to stop here.

6"x 6" acrylic on masonite We took one of our vacations this summer to Sea World. That evening we stumbled upon the dolphin pool where you could lay against the edge and touch the dolphins as they swam past. This is where my image was captured. I get the feeling I am not finished with this one, well see what happens tomorrow .

6”x 6” acrylic on masonite My grandmother was a seamstress and created the blanket in this painting. As long as I can remember she had a box full of scrape material that she’d collected from different projects. All of those scrapes eventually found their way into her quilts. When it became more difficult for her to sew, she made a quilt for each of her children and most of her grandchildren and retired all of her sewing materials. My family has a long tradition of photographing one another while napping. This is usually followed up by placing the unflattering image on our parent’s refrigerator door. What can I say, we’ve shared a lot of laughs as we’d make our inevitable trip to the fridge. This is clearly one of the more flattering napping images.

6”x 6” Acrylic on Masonite I am back. I used to read artists blogs that would say. “It feels good to be back.” I never really knew what they were talking about until now. It feels good to be back! I have a newly found fire in me to paint after being gone for this past week. After trying to juggle a garage sale, toys coming out of my ears, old spring cleaning, I won’t even try to describe the state of our front closet, and a dinning room table full of papers, I decided to take a week off from painting and blogging to get my house in order, so that I could come back with a “clean” conscious. It seems to have worked so far, I managed to spend the entire day painting and loving every minute of it. This first painting back has me dealing with light interacting with the figure. I think you’ll probably see more of this theme from in the future. I am also really thrilled that I was able to use red, which I am really fond of, but have rarely used in my recent paintings.

6”x 6” Acrylic on Masonite I’m having fun with another portrait. I think I’m just working these portraits out of my system. Let’s see how long it will take.

6”x 6” Acrylic on Masonite I love San Antonio, the city has flavor or what most would call culture. The entire city is rich with culture and history. I’ve made many visits to the Alamo, but had no idea there were several other missions open to the public that I found just as interesting, several of which still have weekly services. This is a painting of one of the other missions not as well known. It’s been awhile so the name eludes me, but I found the architecture fascinating with it’s carved stone entrance. I had been working on and off of this painting for sometime now. I wanted to challenge myself to paint things I don’t ordinarily work with, like things that are white or carved from stone. I do consider my first attempt a success. I was forced to keep my brush strokes looser than usual which probably was a good thing. I did not however use as much color as I could have. but I am extremely satisfied at the contrasting shadows seen throughout the painting. SOLD

Zelma with Greens 6”x 6” Acrylic on Masonite Sometimes I can’t wait to begin a painting because I know exactly what it will look like in the end. I know all the tricks I’ll use to get the painting where I want it to be, a recipe so to speak. I was pleased to see this image transform into something that it hadn't started out to be and that I hadn't relied completely on what I know as a painter. I often tell my students when they are choosing reference material, “Don’t assume the simple picture will be the easiest to paint.” My words echoed through my head for hours as I painted and repainted parts of this painting. In the end, I am happy with the results.

6"x6" I was at a loss for an image to paint today so I stopped on this lovely lady after thumbing through my box of reference material for sometime. The model looks like my mother when she was in her high school class picture. I guess that was what caught my attention.