An Artist's Journal:Paintings by Felicia Marshall

 11x14 acrylic on hardboard This painting was inspired by a visit my daughter and I took to the art museum, our last one before everything changed. The museum has played a significant role in my life. As a young artist, I attended programs and workshops there. Later, as a teacher, I brought my students to experience the same. I even helped many of them build portfolios to apply for the museum’s scholarship opportunities. And, of course, I brought my own kids, hoping to pass on a love for art and creativity. On this particular visit, I decided to take a grown-up step and support the museum the way it had supported me.   I purchased a yearly membership. Ironically, we never got to use the rest of the membership because... COVID. Still, we had a wonderful day. After exploring the exhibits, we capped it off with lunch at an art-themed restaurant. Although my daughter isn’t an artist herself, she has a genuine appreciation for art, which means a lot to me. At the end of o...

  11x14 in acrylic on hardboard This painting is part of my ongoing Little Miss series.  Each piece in this collection has been a joy to create, and this particular painting was no exception. As I worked on this piece, I found myself tempted to ground the figure with a shadow in the background to anchor her. However, as the painting evolved, I came to appreciate the light and airy quality that emerged. The result is a sense of weightlessness and whimsy that I absolutely love. Sometimes, the things we resist the most grow into unexpected favorites. My relationship with the color orange is a perfect example of that transformation.   For twenty years, I worked at a school where orange was the school’s spirit color. I wore it often, but never quite embraced it, at least at first. I used to joke that I felt like a giant pumpkin in my orange spirit shirt and jacket. I even recall a moment at the movies when an usher waved me back in without a ticket, saying he remembered...

  11x14 in acrylic on hardboard The original Turtle Eyes has always held a special place in my heart. Instead of trying to clean up all the little imperfections in the first version, I decided to repaint it entirely.   I used to be a messy painter. I think it was because my goals were different ten years ago.   Now, I know that if I don’t keep it clean, I’ll have to edit it out afterwards and I have NOT mastered Photoshop…yet. The experience turned out to be incredibly rewarding. It helped me reconnect with my old self, bringing back cherished memories of Zora and our family pool parties, and how much I loved painting the big, bold portraits that break through the space of the hardboard panel.   It all just reminds me of a perfect summer day. After completing the first version of this piece, I developed a habit of collecting animal-shaped goggles, inspired by the painting. You can see some of them in my older paintings.

11x14 in acrylic on hardboard I love pattern! I was immediately drawn in by the polka dots on the little girl’s dress. Before I retired from teaching, I would often remind my students that, just because something looks simple didn’t mean it will be easy. I myself relearned this lesson with this painting. Polka dots are simple enough but making them interesting is the hard part. When painting the polka dots, I had to make the ones on her dress more dynamic than those in the background to avoid a flat painting. It was a painstaking process, but in the end, the effort was well worth it. This piece also taught me patience. I originally started with a much larger version of this painting on stretched canvas, which I was eager to dive into. However, after five days of repainting the face for what felt like the hundredth time, I started questioning my own sanity. I’m not one to give up, but this one nearly broke me. Realizing I needed a new approach, I took a step back. I hadn’t painted in a ...

11x14 in acrylic on hardboard What little girl doesn’t love trying on adorable dresses?   This was the inspiration for my first painting in my Little Miss series. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with brighter colors, inspired by the bold palettes of artists I admire. Yellow, in particular, is a tricky color—it’s incredibly light, applies thinly, and can be challenging to create shades effectively. Navy blue, on the other hand, has always intrigued me, yet I often struggle to incorporate it because I’m always unsure of what color compliment it. I’ve finally found the answer, it’s golden yellow and white! SOLD

11" x 14" acrylic on hardboard One more portrait with glasses.  I absolutely love painting these portraits, and making people smile as many of your comments and emails indicate.  This is Zora again.  She is just as bubbly and enthusiastic as the portraits I paint of her.  Lucky for me she's never met a camera she didn't love.  I learned a lot about hair with this painting.  I always taught to hint at hair and not try to draw in every single string.  I know, easier said than done.  Don't get me wrong, I am just as amazed by those artists that literally paint in every string.  But who has that much time and patience?  The more extraordinary artists make this look easy.  Hair in three brush strokes.  Magic, is the only way I can describe it. I am not there yet, but I got a little closer with this painting.

“11 x 14” acrylic on hardboard This painting’s from a girl’s line.  Each little girl was standing in a line at a party waiting for their chance to play pop the balloon.  I couldn't resist all of the unique expressions on each of the children’s faces as they anxiously awaited for their turn. 

11"x 14" acrylic on hardboard I got half way through this painting about two years ago.   I always knew that I would come back to finish it up, I just never knew when.   Well, I finally dusted it off and finished it.   The hardest thing about it was coming up with a title. SOLD

5"x7" acrylic on hardboard I recently rummaged threw some of my old work.   I can’t stand not completing something I start.   I came across this painting and I knew why I left it half painted I decided to start over with a more centered image, but it still bothered me…..so I finished it.   It was actually a good thing because I was able to see the contrast in my work then and now.

11x14 Acrylic This is one of my relatives we refer to as Cudd’n Lisha.   She stands tall in the center of the painting.   She was a giant of a woman that married a man barely five feet tall.   I guess it worked.   They were both the most well-traveled and social of all my relatives.   I have no idea why they were all dressed up on this occasion, but I can only imagine it was for some fancy event relating to one of their many clubs and organizations that they were members. Sold

8”x 10” acrylic on hardboard I came across this image that was for a book called "Sylvia and Mrs. Lula Mae" the book’s interior was in black and white.   I thought it would be interesting to create a painting in color.   This is my grandmother, Mama Sissy who lived to be one hundred years old, and so did her grandmother.   I hope to be so lucky. The little girl is a cousin.   I think back now and realize how lucky I was to have such willing and perfect models for that project.   The author’s grandmother, which is who the book was about looked exactly like my grandmother, so I thought I was destined to get the book project and I did.   As I am writing this description, I realize that I probably had a second reason for choosing this image that seems so clear now.   A relative recently purchased my grandmother’s land and home.   Last week it was torn down to be replaced with his own new house.   This was bitter sweet.   I am s...

8”x 10” acrylic on hardboard This is a little gem that I just finished specifically for my portfolio.  I wanted to illustrate an image of children reading books.  It was so cute, this little girl insisted that I paint her holding her own books and not my daughter’s.  She had just began reading chapter books and was so proud.  Lucky for me her books were in the car and she was more than happy to run out to get them. 

9”x 14” acrylic on hardboard I've written before about my aunt’s church, mostly about how small it is.  This is her and some of her members singing during one of their church concerts.   Southern Baptists have a tradition of color coordinating.   This is women in white.   All of the women in the church wear the same color on a particular day.   This happens to be the day they chose to all wear white.   Southern Baptists, like the Brits also have a long tradition of wearing hats.   My aunt loves her hats.  She told me once with a smile, that she had one entire room in her house just for all of her hats. SOLD

9”x 14” acrylic on hardboard This is a painting from a very long ago birthday party.  Three little girls pose for a group picture, each in a different mindset. SOLD

9”x 14” acrylic on hardboard This is Zora in the last of the black and white dotted dress paintings.  I finally really do have this one out of my system.  I was attracted to the light on the surface of the dress.  I love the way the light falling across her arms and hands create the visual effect of gloves. ($150)

11”x 11” acrylic on hardboard In this painting, I was playing around with light reflecting threw and on objects.  Those that have followed my work for a while are familiar with the figure and the black and red polka dot dress she is wearing.        

11”x 14” acrylic on hardboard This is a painting about what happens after Sunday service is over and members are released.  Upon exiting the church doors, they spend another twenty to thirty minutes talking, joking, and laughing with one another outside.  My father reveled in it, and still does.  On the other hand, my siblings and myself were always ready to go.  We would sit in the car wondering when we would actually leave, while my parents butterflied threw the crowd of members exchanging niceties. In all fairness, we were Southern Baptist, which meant we had already sat in church for at least four hours straight that morning.  Patience is not part of the teenage condition. SOLD

11”x 14” acrylic on hardboard My son hates getting his hair cut.  Even to this day I have to trick him into the car, usually mentioning someplace he wants to go, leaving out where our first stop would be (to get a haircut).  He refers to it as, “The dreaded left.” This is because we turn left into the parking lot.  The only thing he hates more is going to my father’s barber.  This is in a traditional barber shop in an older part of town.  This barber has cut three generations of my families hair.  You won’t find a television blasting sports news there, and instead of waiting minutes, its usually an hour or longer to get the full barber experience.  This is a painting of my son’s first traditional barbershop experience.  Years later, his expression is still the same.  Maybe one day I’ll paint his younger brother’s first time there, he cried the entire time his hair was being cut.

11”x 14” acrylic on hardboard This is a painting of the year we brought in the new year with fireworks.  I completed this painting on this New Years night.  I found this appropriate because it is a painting of a New Year from about five years ago.  I hadn’t realized it until I finished.  Maybe it was my subconscious in control of my actions.  That year we were visiting an old friend from high school.  Our visit ended with fireworks.  This was great because, I hadn’t played with fireworks since I was a kid.  We’ve always lived in the city limits so, our kids had never really played with fireworks, so it was really a treat for them.  I thought about painting shoes on the little girl, I mean only a kid would wear flip flops with a sweater right?

“8x10” acrylic on hardboard   It’s been so long since I painted one of these Missions.   I had been organizing all of my photographs in hopes of backing them up when I came across this one.   It’s been so long ago that I don’t remember which Mission this one is, but I can say it is one of the missions in San Antonio.   I can also say I am absolutely sure it is not the Alamo, how’s that for information.   This one was a bit different from most of my Mission paintings which are symmetrical.