Oil
30 x 30

As a child, I loved going into my Paw Paw’s library, choosing an art book of masterpieces, and painting as much detail as possible. How could I capture the emotion and life in the art myself?

As an adult, portrait and figure artists with less traditional styles catch my attention. Edgar Degas’ pastel sketches and paintings convey a lightness both in mood and movement - his ballerinas especially captivate me.

Degas was known for his superb draftsmanship and ability to depict movement masterfully. But he suffered from an eye disease that eventually caused blindness. And an extreme sensitivity to light caused him to move indoors for all of his work. Yet he still celebrated the beauty of the human figure in motion, finding a way with the colors he could see!

Degas surprises me, and inspires me to keep my lines simpler than the detailed attempts of my youth - and enjoy the reward.