pink lady

pink lady is a piece I completed last year. The subject and idea came from an old 1914 grainy black and white photo of my grandmother in her youth. The photo was taken not long after she arrived here in the US from her home country of Northern Norway. My grandmother , as I knew her , was energetic and direct. Although she was a petite 5 ft woman , you couldn't miss her presence in a room. Her favorite color throughout her long life was pink. So much so that at the age of 18 and 13, my sister and I , were sent to the farm to paint grandmas house. Pink ... of course. She wore pink most of the time and the perfume she loved was rose.

I wanted to bring this photo to life with the colors I see around my grandmother. Her impish personality is evident in the photo and I imagine what she had in mind for her future at the time the photo was taken. Every opportunity in the world was waiting for her.

So hot pink was the color for this painting. No doubt about it. She was not to be taken lightly.