An Artist's Journal:Paintings by Felicia Marshall

8"x10" acrylic on hardboard The kids love our annual trip to San Antonio. They spend the entire year talking relatives into accompanying us on this trip. Who can say no to three cute kids? This past year my brother was the first to commit. He's always ready for an adventure which is what you get on a trip with three kids. He's almost like the fourth kid when we're all together. He was pretty excited until he read the itinerary . "Visit two missions, that sounds boring!" This was followed by, "Look Felicia, I'll take one for the team." We had a great time, took some great photographs , and met some lovely people. In this last post of the San Jose Mission, I chose to paint the exterior. This is the largest and most beautiful of all of the Missions. I am always amazed at how accessible the mission is to visitors. The carved stonework inside and out is beautiful. I tried really hard not to be so specific when I painted the exterior . If I go...

8"x8" acrylic on hardboard This is the San Jose Mission painted in midday lighting. I couldn't make up my mind so I painted the mission twice one with mid day lighting and the first with afternoon lighting. I also love the arches and was able to get them in this time around. When I began to think of a title I was drawn to "Embraced by the Light" but it seemed too familiar for some reason. Then I remembered a book I read almost twenty years ago called "Embraced by the Light". The book recounted the author's near death experience. I hadn't really drawn a connection to the figures exiting the building and walking into the light until then. I guess they are both spiritual experiences. SOLD

8"x10" acrylic on hardboard We take a trip to San Antonio every year. This is one of the missions from our trip. I generally have a hard time painting architecture . I find it difficult to capture the character of a structure. I'm pretty happy with this painting. I guess the mission I painted had a lot of character to begin with so, how could I go wrong? SOLD

8"x10" acrylic on hardboard I first thought I would create a single painting of each young lady. After playing around with several possible compositions I settled on this one. I always enjoyed visiting this particular school that taught violin to very young students, some as young as first grade. I was always impressed with their ability to not just play the violin but play it very well. As soon as they began playing I couldn't help but wonder how much time was spent practicing daily to get to this point in their performance. $120 + $5 shipping

8"x10" acrylic on hardboard Every year I used to visit this festival. I'd walk around randomly photographing at different levels and directions as I'd walk in an out of people. I never knew what I had until I developed my film. This is one of those shots. I was attracted to the two women's expressions and gestures as they talked while waiting for their next customer. SOLD

6"x 6" acrylic on hardboard When I'm not sure what to paint, I usually choose a portrait. This painting has a calmness to it that I was feeling at the time, so I guess painting it was some form of therapy for me. She's beautiful, simple, and yes calm. I love it. $75.00 + $5 shipping

5"x7" acrylic on hardboard This painting may be a little different than my usual paintings. I wanted to play around with movement which is something I tend to shy away from. $75.00 + $5 shipping

 5"x7" acrylic on hardboard Birthdays, Easter, and Halloween brings lots of candy to our house so I have become an expert at making it "Disappear"! This was an image I took this past Easter. My son had just opened this big lolly pop and I thought the scene was so adorable. $75.00 + $5 shipping

5"x7" acrylic on hardboard I fell in love the contrast in this portrait. I also love the big brown eyes. This is the second of three portraits I have been working on and probably my favorite so far. $75+ $5.00 shipping

8"x10" acrylic on hardboard What can I say, who can resist painting a cute kid in a hat? My son asked me why I never painted a picture of him for "my computer" as he put it. I could have reminded him that I had indeed painted him a couple of times, but I painted this picture instead. This was a cute image right after our annual trip to the rodeo this year, thirty feet in the gates and we'd purchased three hats and one face painting. SOLD

8"x10" acrylic on hardboard I loved the way this painting turned out. It's a little bit looser than most of my work as my sister pointed out to me before I posted. SOLD

8"x10" acrylic on hardboard This little scene took place on our patio. The sidewalk chalk has been almost worth the mess it makes. My daughter stays occupied for hours making her drawings. Too bad she walks right through the chalk and tracks it into the house when she's finished. I didn't mean to us such a limited palette but when I finished painting, it felt right. $120 + $5 shipping

11"x14" acrylic on hardboard A relative asked me to paint a portrait as a gift to a friend. This painting is the portrait. It took me three times longer to paint than I had projected, but there are really three portraits that I had to paint. This was my first 11x14 painting. I really didn't think the size difference would be challenging at all but it was, what a difference a few inches can make. Not for sale.

8"x10" acrylic on hardboard I have driven past this building for most of my life. It stood as a marker of sorts, sitting off a long stretch of road between my grandmother's house and the closest town. I really never gave much thought to the building until the last time I drove that way. Unlike all of the other times it was night. I was returning home in the middle of the night and for the first time ever, I think I actually SAW the building. I wondered what it was like in its hay day? Did it even have a hay day or was it an business that never took off? I wondered was it a cafe, restaurant, or store of some sort? Was it even functioning as a business at all or was it now just someones house? The one thing I was certain of was that it was incredible the way it was lit up and glowing on the side of a dark Texas road. SOLD

8"x10" acrylic on hardboard I just finished this portrait. The entire time I painted I kept think how cute she was, she reminded me of some of the dolls I had when I was a little girl, all dressed up and eyes twinkling. What a cutie pie. Not for sale.

8"x 8" acrylic on hardboard This year we visited an old friend and his family. We all had a great time as always. At one point he pulled out fireworks and for the next two hours we stood in the cold popping firecrackers, shooting bottle rockets, and lighting sparklers . Good times. This is the first night scene that I think I've ever painted. I was shocked by how easily it all came together. SOLD

5"x7" acrylic on hardboard I married into a family that loves their trains, most of the males in the family have their own train board. Ours happens to be taking up half of our garage. Our kids love going out and running the layout that they created with their dad, but he tends to avoid his creation (did I mention the garage was not heated or air conditioned?) Usually several times a year they manage to pump up their dad long enough to add another few buildings or train engines , usual just before his dad comes to visit so he can show off what he's done. My daughter loves to take the miniature cows and horses from the fields her dad has strategically placed. I can't help but laugh every time he finds them discarded somewhere in the house. Long story short, trains are a passion for the men in my family. I have just discovered that my own father has a special place in his heart for them as well. His father worked on one which should have been no surprise to...

8"x10" acrylic on hardboard Actually this is Saint Patricks Cathedral. I was working with an image I photographed over ten years ago. I loved the grandness of the architecture . It's like a fiesta for the eyes. What the structure lacks in color it makes up for in architecture elements. I really worked hard to make this feel not so much like a paint by number but the more I painted the more I saw to paint until finally I stopped myself before it became too static. SOLD

8"x10" acrylic on hardboard I enjoy the perspective of this painting. The diagonal lines in the street do an amazing job leading the viewer across the the painting. I struggled over introducing more color in the painting but in the end I thought it would distract from the bleak cold winter scene. Growing up in Texas I wasn't accustomed to snow, so I was surprised to find out that snow was only white when it first fell and hadn't been trampled on by commuters. I was also shocked to discover that it didn't have to be freezing or under blizzard like conditions in order to have a good snow fall. When I lived up north the one thing I grew to have was an appreciation of spring. Winters were so grey and cold that the first blossoms to appear on trees were celebrated.

8"x10" acrylic on hardboard Carol is a great friend, we met in college and were roommates for the entire four years which was practically unheard of. We met the first day of check in at the dorm. I wasn't experienced enough to know that I should be terrified or at the least nervous about meeting the person that I had to get along with for the next year. Our dorm was the newest dorm on campus and literally the only thing I ever splurged on in collage. I was terrified of living in a communal or co-ed dorm. So there I was in Pantas Hall. I opened the door and met my new best friend Carol. We were both two fish out of water and with our easily going personality's could have both easily been gobbled up by this big city we now lived in but we weren't. After graduating we both returned home to be closer to family but Carol still remains a dear friend. The quilt she is seated in front of was hand made by my grandmother whom was a seamstress. I always remember a box of f...

5"x7" acrylic on hardboard I got a chance to use my favorite color on this one, red. Watching this game of hide and seek develop after a few minutes reminded me of my own childhood. You needed very little to entertain groups large and small outside for hours on end. This young lady is obviously the counter and the car she's leaning against is base. SOLD

8"x10" acrylic on hardboard I think I have gotten these flowers out of my system, for now anyway. The last time I painted flowers I got so frustrated that I thought I would never choose the subject again, but hear I am painting flowers. I fell in love with the way the light separated and illuminated the petals from the back. SOLD

8"x10" acrylic on hardboard I didn't finish this little gem until tonight. I was attracted to the contrast of the light on each petal. I am fascinated with paintings of inanimate objects that are painted in an excited way that makes the viewers eyes dance across the canvas. I hope I have accomplished this with my painting. $120 + $5 shipping

8"x10" acrylic on hardboard I'm not sure how most painters work, but I can usually look at an image and paint it in my head with no problem at all. This portrait began that way, but three fourths of the way through it I just wanted to scrap the entire thing and start over. He has such a great expressive face, but I couldn't get the eyes and literally debated with myself daily over getting the eyes or starting over. Luckily I don't give up easily because in the end I can look at this beautiful portrait and know that my patience and persistence paid off. I had a lot of fun with the hair and learned a lot about painting freckles which was my first time painting. The trick is to be subtle. Not for sale.

"8x10" acrylic on hardboard I had fun painting this one. The color red captures the playful personality that comes across in Rex's face. The entire time I painted this portrait I kept thinking how perfectly he'd fit into a Norman Rockwell painting. Not for sale.

8"x10" acrylic on masonite I enjoyed painting this portrait. The little girl seems so calm and wise, of course I loved the way the sunlight played on and around her face and hair. NFS