An Artist's Journal:Paintings by Felicia Marshall

5"x 7" acrylic on hardboard Last summer I collected a series of images from the International Festival. The spotlight was on Africa that year. I don’t remember the country the drummer represented but I was drawn to the pattern of his costume as well as the contrast between the foreground and background. White is a color that I try to use very little of and when I do only in controlled areas of my paintings, but the tent happened to be pure white and I debated weather or not to paint it in as my background all together. In the end I think it 

5"x 7" acrylic on hardboard Another carousel animal from the zoo. I have always considered giraffes to be the most beautiful animals that I know.

5"x 7" acrylic on hardboard I have always enjoyed photographing carousels ever since I was in collage and photographed the carousel in Central Park. I never knew exactly where the carousel was in the park, so we usually just walked until we’d happen upon it, which always happened at the end of the day. All of my images were rushed and I’d never manage to capture anything extraordinary with my camera. I guess my obsession continues because I’ve never seen a carousel that I did'nt photograph. Through out these years I have noticed that there are only a few models of carousels. After seeing them over and over again, you can image how excited I was when I stumbled across the carousel at our local zoo that was…unique. The carousel is filled with zoo animals, I loved it. Painting the zebra was a joy and refreshing.

5"x 7" acrylic on hardboard I used to shy away from painting glass. The reflective surface never seems to end. I can’t say that anymore. I am so excited about this painting. The actual berries take a second place to the glass vase and the shadow created behind. NFS

5”x7” acrylic on hardboard The toes say it all. This painting is actually the second half of the "Saturday Morning" painting. They connect to one another perfectly side by side. I thought I would try something I hadn't tried before after the obvious change in my painting size. SOLD

5"x 7" acrylic on hardboard Saturday mornings tend to be some of the calmest times at our home. This particular Saturday I came down stairs to find my kids sitting quietly on our big purple sofa and instead of watching television they were flipping through our family photo albums. I was so glad to be able to capture this moment….before they began to manhandle the pages and the magic moment was lost. SOLD

6"x6" acrylic on masonite This is my recipe for frustration. I should have stopped at the painting you are viewing. I must have sensed bad things where coming, because I actually scanned the painting before I began with my final touches. Hours, then days later my attempt to simply polish some of the details had resulted in an almost completely new painting, not better just new. Finally I did something I never do. I gave up on this one. The commitment that I make is usually rewarded eventually with success, except on these rare occasions when the magic just doesn't happen, no matter how much time I committed to the painting. So I'm posting this earlier happier version.