Dubeau, Carruth Featured in Hartwell Show
Anderson Artists Guild members Debra Taylor Dubeau and Rebecca Lawson Carruth each have three pieces in the 24th Annual Juried Art Exhibit at The Art Center on the square in Hartwell, Georgia. The show opened on June 14 and runs through August 4.
Dubeau works in oil, which she appreciates for its many nuances. “It’s buttery, fluid, forgiving,” she said. “You can change it, build it, blend it on the canvas or on the palette.”
Forever and Ever, based on a friend’s photo, portrays a pair of parakeets. “I was trying to relay the emotion of love and their affection for each other,” she said. To capture their softness, she switched to different types of brushes and used thinner and thicker paint and build-up with different values.
A Rose by any Other Name, which she painted while looking at a real rose, is an attempt to capture its delicacy and the varied colors in the petals. “I’m always fascinated by flowers and the way God painted them,” she said. “I can never get that, of course. I’m trying to paint an impression of what I see.”
Dancing on Moonbeams depicts her niece’s five-year-old daughter acting out her dance class. “Children are always in motion,” she said. “I tried to relay that motion.”
Carruth’s three pieces are in three different mediums: photography, acrylic, and watercolor. Contemplation is a photo she took with her iPad in Venice about two years ago. “I like photos of people in action,” she said. “He looked like he was so deep in thought.”
Life and Light, which won an honorable mention award, was created with acrylic pouring. She mixed all the separate colors, layered them into a cup, and then poured from the cup onto the canvas. To move the paint around, she picked up the canvas and tilted it. Her goal was to capture light, and when another artist pointed out that the center of the painting looked like an embryo, she gave it the title Life and Light.
Carruth’s final piece, Forest Ballet, is the result of a watercolor pour, which involved masking, pouring, masking some more, and ultimately rubbing off the protectant after the paint dried. “What’s so fun is you don’t know what you’re going to get,” she said.
For more information about The Art Center in Hartwell, visit http://www.hartregionalartscouncil.org/.
