paintings, portraits, and fine art
This is one of my first attempts at a fine art still life. I wanted to create a Missouri themed still life, with the colors and subjects that one would find in the woods. Although the gopher skull is native to Colorado, where I found it, I still thought it fit and wanted to use pieces of collectibles that I liked. I loved the structure of animal skulls and liked the way that it mimicked the curves of the clay cups and the holes in the nuts.
This is one of my first attempts at using a red undercoat to make the foreground pop. I really liked the results and it caused me to push myself to be loose and brushy (another style that I admire and want to get better at). The subject is, in fact, me jumping over windrows in a hayfield. I wanted to portray the freeing feeling I get when I had the whole field to myself. For some reason I feel like I can leap and run as fast as a deer when I am jumping windrows! Yipee! (Prints available)
This was an experimental piece which I ended up liking more than I thought. I used gold- leaf flakes for the eye spots and iridescent acrylic for the glowing skin. In life this is a truly stunning, sharp piece even though it is only 12×12.” Unfortunately it is already sold, but prints are available.
This painting is done in Latex house paint. I painted it in 2009 while at college. It is 4×5 feet in dimension. It will be purchased by the College of the Ozarks in Branson MO, and hung in the Ralph Foster Museum on Campus as of June 2012. This is my largest framed painting to date! I encourage you to visit it!
2010: White River Art Exhibit. FIRST PLACE. Juror and judge, Manuela Welloffman.
I had wanted to paint a picture of sparrows eating fries for a long time, mainly because it intrigued me that these little birds were so adaptable. They were at home in the city, eating human food, even though they are by nature wildlife. It wasn’t until I went to college and started experimenting with perspectives, that I had a breakthrough with the composition and ‘American Sparrows’ happened.
I like the irony of this piece. Like my painting, American Sparrows, I had had the idea for Amish Pace for years before I painted it. The idea stuck in my mind when my mom told me about an Amish horse she had seen making a left-hand turn across traffic. She described how hard he was pulling and the steam and sweat that he emitted. It emblazoned an image in my mind of the meek Amish horse being used to protest technology, and yet, like no other horse in history, having to compete with modern day traffic. This picture attempts to capture the power of a horse and comparing it to the power of technology.
Fine art and portraits by Lena Quagliato 