An Artist's Journal:Paintings by Felicia Marshall

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 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.        

5" x 10" acrylic on hardboard This one reminds me of hard candy because it's bright and translucent.  The crabs stand out on their own as animated characters.  I love the complementary colors red and green.  I wish I could say I planned it, but it just happened.

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

5"x 7" acrylic on hardboard   I took a rare trip to the country with my sister last weekend.  Rare for me because there is not as much reason for me to go now that my grandmother isn't there.   When we left out of her driveway she asked, "Which way do you want to go, I-10 or the back way?"  There has always been two ways you can make the trip.  Interstate 10 is the most direct, but for me the back way is the most interesting.  The town we were going to is at the beginning of what is known as the Hill Country.  Some of the towns we pass threw are quiet picturesque and the roads curve and wind in some interesting ways.  This is a painting of one such road.

 8"x 10" acrylic on hardboard This is the second painting of the same hibiscus flower from my mother's house.  I think I can safely say that I was able to give it a longer life with paint than my daughter was ever interested in giving it.

acrylic on hardboard 8" x 10" At the end of our last visit to my parents house my daughter acquired this hibiscus.  My mother always feels as if she needs to walk us outside to our car as we say our goodbyes.  I looked back to see what was taking so long this time.  My daughter had  apparently  asked my mom for her flower.  She was breaking off one of the plant's few blooms.  Why? I thought to myself, this beautiful flower isn't even going to make it past the thirty minute car ride home.  Thankfully it did.  As it lay on the kitchen counter, quickly discarded I decided to put it in water and paint this gorgeous flower.

8"x 10" acrylic on hardboard I enjoy working with portraits.  No big surprise I know.      I thought I was being adventurous with a blue background.  Blue isn't a color I would have naturally chosen for the back, I'm more of an earth tone or neutral kind of girl.  This painting taught me a lot.  I generally think in layers when I am painting.  In order to get the eyes to look correct, I had to layered values and colors like I've never done before.  The eyes have about six layers of paint and gloss medium on them.

8" x 10" acrylic on hardboard In this painting I got a chance to play around with some of my favorite colors, red, brown, and black.  Red is my all time favorite, but you can't use much of it in any given place because it definitely screams "Look at me!"  I have always had a love hate relationship with brown.  I grew up in a brown paneled house, so I find the color very familiar to me and calming.  I also hate the color because like I mentioned I grew up in a brown paneled house.  Black is a mysterious color, usually hiding most of the flaws in my painting while adding drama, who can't love a color that can do all of that?

8"x 10" acrylic on hardboard It's almost time for summer!  We officially kick off our summer with the purchase of a swimming pool.  I know we aren't being environmentally friendly, but we definitely get one hundred percent out of our pools each year.  This was at the lake, which is also a part of our summer family tradition.  If you are familiar with lake water, it's not blue, so I did take artistic liberty with that part of the painting. SOLD

5"x 7" acrylic on hardboard I have created several paintings with the same theme, a little girl in a feather mask.  As I complete the last of the paintings I thought I should share a little about what inspired them. I took a workshop at the Museum of Fine Arts.  I usually do this once a year to fill a credit requirement. As usual I put it off  until the last possible minute. But it happened to be my lucky day because not only was the workshop inspired by a painter, it was Henry Tanner a painter that I liked a lot.  The workshop was on a Saturday, actually an entire Saturday, but I was happy to get away from the kids and do some adult stuff for a refreshing change. I didn't know just how much I needed this change. I was really glad that the workshop spotlighted Henry Tanner an artist that was a painter and a realist. I have been a fan, but I didn't know too much about him. I'd only seen copies of his work in books and on the internet.  Viewing T...

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.

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 ...

12"x 16" acrylic on hardboard We pulled out some old Halloween costumes.  I loved the way the dress caught the light from the window behind us.  The feather mask was one of those things that spoke to me when I was out shopping for something else.  I wasn't prepared to make the purchase, but I thought about it for a couple of days and found myself walking right back into the store and sealing the deal.  The best thing was, everything was marked half off.  I didn't have to feel so guilty about the frivolous purchase.  What a difference a few days make! In my own defense  I think this mask has been put to good use already with this painting, or at least that's the line I used on my husband.  I pushed myself with this painting and I got to use a lot of bright color.

5"x7" acrylic on hardboard In this painting I get to use my favorite color, red.  I have been playing around with lighting and decided to back light the figure, which seemed appropriate since the portrait seems staged.  I painted most of the sequence during a long conversation with my mother in law. (Who says I  can't multitask?) I had a teacher in high school that was passionate about pattern.  I guess this piece would make her proud. SOLD

5"x7" acrylic on hardboard I had a teacher in high school that preached the importance of pattern.  I think she would have loved this painting.  I  was excited about painting the sequence until half way through the painting.  I kept thinking why did I do this to myself.  I wasn't even sure if I was going to pull it off until the very end, there are a lot of dots in that mask.  In the end I love everything about this painting and I'm very pleased with the perspective of the portrait. SOLD

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