Come Inside

"Hot Afternoon"
10 x 18, oil on linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2015

I have been putting the finishing touches on some new interior paintings. I love to paint rooms that are well lived-in. I always fall captive to the thrill of entering a space that contains the echoes of earlier footfalls. Or as Connie Hayes writes, I love rooms with "ghosts". 

The top painting is a room at a B&B, where I stayed in Normandy. I did many sketches there, and used them to work on the painting back home in my studio. I tried to convey

90% Perspiration

Self Portrait
Eugene Delacroix, 1837

We are all familiar with the old saying that the achievement of success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. Part of the deal is showing up to work, every day, whether one is feeling particularly inspired or not. I am fond of another 90/10 expression, which goes something like this:

Find Me If You Can

Home of Elizabeth Mayhew's client
Photo by Annie Schlechter

I recently read an article in the Washington Post about displaying art. The author, Elizabeth Mayhew, is an interior designer and author of a book (FLIP for Decorating!). She wrote in the Washington Post about the challenge of decorating for a client who is an art advisor. This particular client is a serious art collector who believes that the art should be the main statement in her living space. In this client's opinion, furnishings, fabrics, paint colors, and accessories

A New Leaf

"Acuba and Mums"
12 x 9, oil on linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2015

I have not painted flowers since my very first oil painting exercise "back in the day", when the subject assigned to all of us beginners was a pink rose. Though I love flowers, I have not felt drawn to paint them. Perhaps my hesitation has something to do with the fear that I could never make a painting of a flower that was quite as beautiful as the flower itself. Whatever the reason, I have painted many, many still lifes--featuring fruit, vegetables, garden tools, even food!--but not flowers. 

"Sweet Magnolia"
12 x 12, oil on linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2015

Well, I recently turned over a new leaf, and found the courage to take on a few paintings  depicting flowers. Part of what sparked my interest in this challenge was

The Jury's In

Awarded "Best in Show"
(c) Greg Siler

This spring I submitted an entry to "Carolina's Got Art!" (CGA for short)--a juried art show. For the uninitiated, a "juried" show is one in which artists compete to have their work included in the show. There is typically a single juror, who reviews all of the entries and decides which ones make the cut. Because of the dynamics of the process for high profile shows, only a small percentage of entries are selected. 

This year, CGA landed Eliza Rathbone as its juror. Ms. Rathbone is well know in art circles, having been