Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Principle Gallery , Spring Still Life Invitational

Uphill Climb
16" x 12"
oil on linen
sold

I have been invited to participate in the
Spring Still Life Invitational at 
Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA
Opening April 15th, 2011
Principle Gallery

I am proud to have Uphill Climb and The Swan
showing there.

detail of Uphill Climb

The Swan
20" x 16"
oil on linen
sold

I came across this bar of Swan soap at a antique market and fell in love with the graphics. The seller had it wrapped in plastic to protect it. When I unwrapped it , it smelled just like Ivory soap which I grew up with. I found it's history interesting. 
Here is what Wikipedia had to say about it:
Swan was a brand of soap marketed by the Lever Brothers Company in the 1940s and 1950s. Like its competitor Ivory, it was a floating soap. Swan was advertised as a soap that could be used in the kitchen as a hand soap or in the bathroom to bathe the baby. A typical ad boasted that Swan was "the white floating soap that's purer than the finest castiles".




3 comments:

  1. I'm hooked, Teresa. Two years ago I started my search for old paper that I could embellish with appropriate advertising art or some of my own. The paper would not only tell a story, but I could also hang a visual treat on the paper that gave it that extra bit of life that it didn't have before. I really like how you've added a narrative to the Swan. It not only gives the piece an added dimension, but it also gives the new 'owner' something to talk about when they hang it on their wall. FANTASTIC!

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  2. HI Teresa,
    So good to hear you are receiving recognition for your work. I'm intrigued with your paintings and was wondering what inspires your ideas? How do you go about choosing the objects for your still lifes? Your titles seem to be as much a part of the creative process as the subjects you choose. If you feel you would like to share, I would be very interested. Thank you.

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  3. Kim, that is an excellent question for me. I often descibe me playing when I put my paintings together, but it really is much more than that. I am a collector, I am drawn to items that seem to "talk" to me. I am also in love with textures, and I love the challenge they bring to me as an artist. In my studio I pull items out and set them up and watch them for a while. For example: the little metal painted swan in The Swan painting had been sitting on top of my desk for months. I had been wanting to paint it, but things just didn't seem to come together. Then in September I went to an antique market and found the Swan soap bar. I came home and it all clicked. I will put a blog post together going through a few more paintings explaining my inspirations with some photos from my studio. That will be fun to put together.

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