PHOEBE HAWKINS ART: Abraham Lincoln

About Me

My painting is about everyday life. I love the human form and nature. Currently, I am working on a series about boys who are trapped – either externally (prison cells, military engagements, even on a train) or internally – a teenager trapped in his changing body. In the past, I have depicted a child alone in her parents’ bedroom, a sick woman gazing at her changing self in the mirror. I also paint portraits of people who interest me and make quick studies of faces.

Motherhood gave me the structure and focus to pursue my passion for art. Growing up, I had many interests and I first tried a career in journalism, then law. It took the rigors of tending to my babies – now teenagers – to keep me painting steadily for 15 years. As my children have grown, so has my art.

Oil paint is my preferred medium. I love its transparency, brilliancy of color and durability. I also love its smell. I also use water colors, pastel, gouache and charcoal.

I see a scene or a photograph that tells a story to me. Sometimes I make a painting out of many different snapshots. I construct the work with large fields of color and explore the subject with loose brush strokes. I do not start with a drawing or under painting. One decision leads to another as I build the work with color and paint. I start fast and slow down. When do I stop? My present issue is to not overwork my paintings.

The more I paint the more I feel I am really trying to convey an experience – the experience of contemplating a unique human being with their foibles and nobility and eccentric corporeality. Or the experience of inhabiting a land scape or city space and slowly bending what I see into a reflection of my own reality.

ART EDUCATION

Corcoran School of Art, Washington, D.C.

Drawing the Figure, Hayes Friedman, January 1996-August 1996

Art Students League, New York, N.Y.

Painting, Ken McIndoe, 1998-1999; Painting, Greg Kreutz, 1999-2000; Painting, Peter Cox, 2001-2002

Caravaggio Studio Inc., New York, N.Y.

Painting, Peter Cox, 2003-2004

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Abraham Lincoln