"Cornucopia"

12 x 12"
oil on masonite
sold

It is a rare thing for me to paint someone I know - honestly, I'm usually traveling alone, so everyone's a stranger. But on this occasion, inside the Smithsonian American Art Museum, I caught a glimpse of my boyfriend underneath the massive mural 'Achelous and Hercules', painted by Thomas Hart Benton - an artist we both have a great affection for. When I was around 15 years old, I convinced my art teacher and the principal of the school to allow me to paint a 50 foot by 2 foot mural in the hallway - depicting American history events. A large portion of it was painted much like Benton - those recognizable, exaggerated figures with vivid colors. It got me out of gym class for three months, which was my intention in the first place.

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"Oh Susanna"

9 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

I'm not firm on the title - it was the first thing that popped into my head. And let me explain that....

The painting the woman was studying is "Susanna and the Elders" by Thomas Hart Benton, which hangs in the DeYoung Museum. It is one of my top favorites in that museum - one, because it's Benton's, whom I've admired since I was about 10 - and two, because of the subject.

The story is from the Book of Daniel - in short, Susanna was sentenced to death, falsely accused of adultery by the town's two elders, who were also the judges in such matters. The two men lusted for her and after witnessing her bathing nude (on her own property), they blackmailed her by giving her the choice of having sex with them or stand accused of meeting another man in secret. She refused, stood trial and would have been executed if not for Daniel challenging the elder's stories and proving Susanna's innocence. Benton's painting was found very offensive in 1938. Too erotic. Two interesting points - one of the 'elders' is a self-portrait of the artist and this was the first time an exhibited painting included pubic hair on a female.

When I was 15, I convinced my high school principal to let me paint an "American History" mural in the hallway. It was about 50 feet long and about 2 feet high and it was my personal homage to Thomas Hart Benton. All of the figures were elongated and exaggerated and the colors were vibrant. It was my first mural.

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