Polly in Tangerine

30" x 40" oil on canvas

This painting is in honor of my great aunt Polly, who was great in more ways than one.  It is a portrait of a chair that was down in her basement because it needed repairs, kind of passed over because it was fragile.  But it has grace and beauty, much like its owner did.

Marwin's Rocker

This is a portrait of my grandfather's rocking chair, 48" x 48", oil on canvas.  I'm including a drawing of Marwin, so you can see the wonderful man who loved to sit there.  At one point he replaced the seat, which accounts for the organic placing of the tacks.  There were only 3 places to sit in my grandfather's house.  He had a rocker, my grandmother had a rocker, and there was an old leather couch just big enough for 2 people to sit on.  Otherwise, we sat on the floor, which we didn't mind too much.

Youth Chair Profile

20" x 30" oil on canvas

Chair 1- working towards a show (Sold)

Youth Chair 4
24" x 36" oil on canvas

Bapa's chair (Sold)

24" x 36" oil on canvas

This is a portrait of a chair that belonged to my father.  He took an interest in to caning chairs after he retired.  I found the chair, seat-less, at a yard sale along with some others.  This was his favorite, which he liked particularly for its shape and size.  He had a great eye for beauty.  I love that he became interested in a new craft and skill late in his life.  He did wonderful works.

Attie's Rocker

24" x 32", oil on canvas

This is a portrait of a little rocker of my mom's, which used to belong to her mom.  Age hasn't diminished her beauty.

Chair

Maybe, just maybe, this chair was the start of my fascination with them.  I drew this in a class with Bruce Smith at Brigham Young University.  He would get pretty excited about chairs as well.  It could have rubbed off on me.  But really it was my dad that opened my eyes to the possibilities of painting chairs.  He had a variety of chairs in his house that he picked up at different places, as well as the chairs that were passed down in the family for generations.  He said to watch people as they came in and see which chairs they sat in.  He thought you could tell a lot about a person by which one they chose.  The chairs themselves have personality, and draw certain people to them.  At the moment, I am in the process of painting portraits of my dad's chairs.  I like thinking about him while I work.