Since the start of the pandemic Carson Foard says she’s found more time to complete projects that have been languishing for a while, “plus I’m reviewing some previous efforts with fresh eyes. Being able to use this sad situation to some advantage has been a blessing for me.”
A little background on this CWEnder: While Foard was working in the New York advertising world in the 1980’s, she took evening classes at the National Academy of Art. She later worked as a financial manager for TWA and moved to the Central West End when the airline relocated to St. Louis. After TWA’s collapse she continued her art education earning an MFA from Fontbonne University’s Fine Arts Department in 2012.
Foard is shown with some of her work including a charcoal and chalk drawing from an anatomy class at Fontbonne University; left, Mississippi River, Louisiana, Missouri, oil on canvas, 12″ x 18;” and right, Kayaks at Rest, Boat House Cafe, Forest Park, oil on canvas, 30″ x 40.”
Foard says she spends time looking at her brushes and paints thinking “maybe this one…no, that one….OK, ok, this one…I’m not a graceful painter.”
Foard’s Victoria Water Lily, Jewel Box, Forest Park, oil on canvas, 36″x 48.”
“I’m primarily interested in the contrasts and reflections created by landscapes and objects when they are drenched in light, sometimes with elements of structural design contrasted with natural forms. My inspiration is sunlight and color, they make me want to pick up a brush and not let any of it get away.”
For more information, contact Carson Foard via snail mail (a website is in the works), 4814 Washington Ave., Suite 308, St. Louis 63108.
CWEnder Carla Dawson confided that she had a very hard time starting a new piece when the pandemic began. “It was hard to find beauty in a stressful time—I’ve found I’ve been much less productive this year,” she added, “because I’m an artist who doesn’t look for inspiration, I catch it on the fly.”
In photo above: Peaceful Pond, inspired by a photo taken a few years ago in Colorado, and beneath: Storm Coming In, from a photo of an approaching storm.
Dawson’s current work incorporates boarding passes from the last few trips she and her husband Dennis had taken before the pandemic set in. “At first I didn’t know what I’d do with them but am now featuring them in my latest work as an homage to those days when we could travel,” she said. “We used to stay in colorful adobe buildings with big blocks of bold color which are shown in this painting. Times are so weird now,” she continued, “I’m feeling so isolated and homebound. Travel seems far-fetched.”
For more information about Carla Dawson, visit an earlier post here.
Sarah Blumenfeld
Sarah Blumenfeld said that she’s been inviting friends to paint with her outside, using a live model. “So hopefully the nice weather will last a while longer. Since I can’t be with my regular gang now, it’s important to share and critique and support each other on social media.”
For more information on Blumenfeld’s oil paintings, contact her at [email protected].
Next up: More artists and their pandemic art