An Artist's Journal:Paintings by Felicia Marshall

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

8"x 10" acrylic on hardboard I'm not sure why it took me so long to understand this, but I have just now come to realize, that what is being reflected in a pair of glasses, is as important and interesting as the person wearing them.  Wow, talk about overlooking the obvious!  We have two sitting rooms in our house most people call theirs the den and living room.  Our kids never quite understood that, so our rooms are referred to as the quiet room, which is quiet until I actually sit in it.  Once my kids notice me there it quickly fills with kids and turns into the not so quiet room.  The other room is the tv room.  This room has a great set of windows that gets the most amazing afternoon light all year round.  Even in the winter, as the sun sets low, the light passes through the trees outside and casts the most interesting highlights and shadows on objects in that room as it did this day with Zora and her new blue glasses.

8 x 10 acrylic on hardboard This is the first painting that I actually started and completed in one sitting.  Usually I work on several paintings at one time over several days or a week.  I started on the face, which didn't give me too many problems.  The painting surprisingly didn't come to life until I painted in the glasses.  I asked my kids to help me with the title.  After several suggestions I pulled together the one you see here, "Sunshine on Hope".  I hope it works.

8 x 10 acrylic on hardboard I am still working on portraits and light.  I finally got tired of mixing this specific pinkish rosy color every time  I had to use it, which was often.  It never occurred to me that I could just premix an entire bottle or tube of the color.   That was until I read an article that had a painter describing her process.  She mixed some of her own colors so that they would be ready and waiting for her to use. "Duh! how brilliant, simple, and efficient." I went out and purchased some empty paint tubes.  I was shocked that they make these.  "Empty paint tubes!...duh!  It's my new favorite thing. SOLD

8"x 10" acrylic on hardboard I liked working with this painting.  The portrait was big and the patterns were bold.  I was attracted to the patterns on the glasses, which turned into a challenge that I didn't anticipate.  When you have done a number of portraits you tend to need to experiment a little to change things up.  That's why I cropped in close and placed the person at a diagonal across the painting.  I am glad I did, because it turned out so much more interesting than a straight portrait. SOLD

5"x 7" acrylic on hardboard Having kids of my own I have learned to loath picture day.  Coming across this long-ago image of a distant relative's portrait on what was probably her picture day, has helped me put my own family's picture day into a new perspective. Maybe one of my future relatives will come across a picture of my kids and create a painting to post on their blog. I guess if that were to happen, then all of the last-minute visits to the barber, and the fights about what is going to be worn or even better not going to be worn, and the late-night ironing of the only shirt my son has yet to grow out of would almost be worth the effort. SOLD

12"x 16" acrylic on hardboard I am always excited when I get to use red in a painting, which is one of my favorite colors. I spent a lot of time on the background on this one.  I know your probably thinking, "what  background?"  Well I had a background of thin transparent red fabric with light shining  threw it. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I was going to pull it off.  Then I  painted over it and everything finally felt right. The background and foreground weren't  fighting with each other anymore.  I guess I should write about what is actually in the  painting since I just explained what isn't.  I enjoyed working with this one, it had everything I like, from the rich red and black colors to the mask itself.  I love masks and can't wait to  paint my next masked figure. Their will always be a next masked figure.

5"x 7" acrylic on hardboard Sarah was my sweet mate in college. She was the first New Yorker I had the pleasure of meeting.  She was from Queens, New York and though she was just over five feet tall.  She was one tough cookie.  Sarah was the cool kid that knew her way around, needles to say we hung in different crowds most of the time.  We remained friends the entire four years of school.  This was a portrait I took of her our last year.  I was in a photography class and had to finish a roll of film, so I asked her and several other friends to pose for me.  I'm glad I did because these were some of the only images that I have of a couple of friends.   This painting was supposed to be easy, but like I tell my students, "Just because it looks easy doesn't mean it will be." I relearn this lesson from time to time. I began this painting a little over a year ago and got everything painte...

8"x 10" acrylic on hardboard  I was so proud of myself after I completed this painting.  I was able to recreate the left hand hitting light just right, making that entire area glow.  I had seen so many painters get it right with little or no effort, but I had never been bold or skilled enough to paint what I was seeing instead of what I thought I was seeing. When I finished I left the painting out so I could admire it every time I passed it on the table.  A few days later my brother stopped by and began admiring several paintings I also had out in various stages of completion.  He even commented on how nice my work was, then he holds one up and says, "When are you gonna finish this one?" I looked up to see him holding this painting.  "That one is already finished," I replied.  He goes on to say, "Your NOT going to paint the hand?" "What, that's the best part!" I explain to him. "I don't get ...

5"x7" acrylic on hardboard I was playing around with lighting on this portrait.  I think it comes across well in the background and the bow.