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