My Life as an Artist

My mother was an artist, so it came naturally to me.

I sketched, scribbled and dabbled in most every media throughout my life, but my favorite was acrylics. That would change.

A good friend, Zandra, introduced me to clay. Over the next ten years, I built a huge inventory of ceramics and quite a nice little business grew. Everyone knew me by the unusual rendering of finishing with a dry brush technique I learned while apprenticing in a studio. Colorado was a great market for what I produced in those days.

When I moved to Arizona, the market wasn’t the same, so I dabbled again in other things. One day, I answered a newspaper ad on a whim. A bronze sculptor needed a painter. A painter? What would someone want bronze painted for??

I got the job. The ‘interview’ consisted of setting minute patterns of beads, and painting them in oils, on a Native American patterned beaded collar sculpted by the artist. Not an easy task. But, I got the job.

This is the finished piece with the beaded collar:

 Her title is: “Creation Passing

Soon, I discovered, I had quite a knack for using the oils, in washes - and, again, in my dry brush technique - and became quite adept at painting the absolutely beautiful bronzes produced by this sculptor.

He became quite well known, and I became his “Master Painter”. One day, he told me the piece I had painted, called “Man’s Prelude to Honor” had been acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I said, the sculptor is the Master, not I. He said, the Painter makes the Master. I was honored.

“Man’s Prelude to Honor” took forty hours to paint. I used small brushes, large brushes, oil washes and scrubs, and also, sometimes, magnifying glasses. I met my husband while painting this piece...he was hired on by the sculptor and we painted together.

This is how Man's Prelude to Honor turned out:

This bronze was almost five feet tall.

There were many more pieces this prolific sculptor did, and I painted.

Here are a few examples:

This is Song for the Spirit

Stella by Starlight

 Flute's Proposal

Whirling Thunder

 Walks Like a Living Prayer

I don’t paint anymore. Not professionally. Arthritis has claimed my hands. Oh, I suppose I do dabble now and then, but I can’t do the small detailed work or the big dry brush work anymore. Yes, I do miss it, but I treasure my experience and enjoy life many other ways now.

I hope you have enjoyed this little story about my life as an artist. I have enjoyed sharing it with you.

You should know this magnificent sculptor's name. It is John Coleman, Cowboy Artist of America. Prescott, Arizona.