Friday, February 28, 2020

Runaway Mama and Friends

www.miriampaints.blogspot.com

When I painted this, I thought about the times I fantasized about running away from my wifely and motherly responsibilities. It never was a serious thought, but I think every woman alive has this thought about sitting undisturbed, in a lovely clean room, drinking peppermint tea (or the beverage of your choice) and watching a movie or reading a book--or taking a nap. So, that's what this girl symbolizes. The horse has some symbols on her flank that mean something to me personally. The circle which spirals is something I have seen on rock walls, scraped there by some early artist. I like the shape. I often use it when I am machine quilting. It's very organic. Next, to its right, is a brand that belonged to my father. It belonged to his father, as well. It symbolizes his middle name, which is Thorwald--a Danish name, which came from his grandfather and father. The bottom emblem which looks a bit like a fleur de lis is actually a stylized plant, and a symbol of my mother's green thumb. I had a very loving childhood, and my parents' goodness has sustained me greatly--even when I want to jump up and run!

The painting itself is a layered painting. I started with a green and blue underpainting, and gradually added the horse and rider, with the background hills and upper decorative border. The horse began as a grey animal, but it lacked the 'sizzle' I wanted, so I started adding a golden color, which really was the right thing. I layered several thin layers of yellow ochre, white, and Naples yellow mostly, adding a little red here and there, to warm it up a little.

www.miriampaints.blogspot.com

This old-fashioned woman is my great, great grandmother, Nancy Bean. Nancy was descended from English gentry and Danish royalty, and was a pioneer who came from Nauvoo, Illinois to settle in Southern Utah. While she was in Nauvoo, she married a man named Mr. Lee, but when she got to Utah, she asked permission from the Church to divorce him, because she said he was a bad man. Subsequently, she married a good man named Zechariah Decker, had children with him, lived a full live, and is buried in Parowan, Utah. I admire her tremendously, and think she was a woman of courage, who gave up a comfortable life to enter the rugged and often dangerous role of pioneer woman. I am proud of the hard-working women who are my ancestors. I hope I make them proud.

I found Nancy's photograph in a family book, published by one of my cousins. The quality of the photographs were not great, but I decided to paint her in color because I thought she would approve. I know very little about the things she loved, but I imagine she loved beautiful things, just like most women. Her shawl with the fringe was something women often wore in that era, and now we wear scarves around our necks. Ladies of fashion, no matter the generation.

www.miriampaints.blogspot.com

This last little painting (8" x 10") is "Betsy Stitches a Nation Together." I was thinking about the women who participated in the building of this beautiful nation, and Betsy was only one out of thousands who worked, bore children, taught school, cooked, cleaned, sewed, and showed gratitude to God for the blessings of living in a free country. I think we sometimes take that for granted, as we quarrel with friends and family over political figures, and points of view. I hope that we women can begin to stitch our nation back together with love, appreciation for the freedom we have, prayer, life styles that many women (and men, and children)  throughout the world are without. We are truly blessed.