I’m happy to share I will be participating in Looking Back—A Reflection of Artwork from 2023 exhibition at Corgi Clay Art Center. I entered the only piece I felt represented another year that only Satan would want to date. The piece is one of my most challenging so far, not necessarily because of its complexity, but because it took nearly an entire year to complete due to serious health interruptions, a sepia faded 3×5 reference photo probably taken in 1983, and the fact that I have procrastinated tackling this project for years because of its significance.
“A moment” is an 18×24 pastel on paper of my dad (top left), his brothers and my little sister. There were actually eight siblings; the sisters aren’t in the picture. No one remembers the event. It looks like it was at my Uncle Leonard and Aunt Linda’s, and if so, my mom thinks I was probably in the pool because that’s where I lived in the summer! These siblings knew many challenging years like my 2023. They grew up in poverty, had an alcoholic and sometimes abusive father, an unaffectionate mother, and were teased in school. They broke each other’s bones and created scars fighting and playing chicken. They also stole ma’s sugar to make dandelion wine and enjoyed playing horse shoes. Most of them worked hard to create a life for themselves and raise families without repeating the dark spots in their upbringing.
Knowing the background to this forgotten, but happy moment, put tremendous pressure on me—the kind of pressure that can sometimes immobilize and cause more frustration than enjoyment in the creation process.
After I sketched the project, I realized I accidentally used the wrong grit of UART paper, and had to start over. It was particularly difficult to rely on memory to depict each person’s distinct features (make them look like themselves), but equally enjoyable to liven skin tone and change details to create contrast and what I knew to be true to life. In this particular piece, I learned yellow ochre could be a magic softener of lines and French red ochre added a unique, warm highlight to skin; UART paper can bubble when too large; and layers of pastel can randomly refuse to stick!
I learned so much from the experience that I’m okay it didn’t turn out exactly as I hoped. It is a reminder to capture the brief, happy moments in life, and ironically also captures a challenging, traumatic year in mine.
I am hopeful that this opportunity is a pivot point in my journey as an artist. Please join me for the opening reception Saturday, February 24 from 6-8. The exhibition ends March 24.
Located at 15 Tech Parkway Stafford, VA 22556
Final: A Moment
