Transcendent Serenity
This abstract oil painting, “Transcendent Serenity”, is especially important to me. In my last year at Penn State University, my first solo show was at an organic food market called Morgan’s Market in downtown, State College. This happened to be one of the pieces. I also had another show that overlapped at the HUB Art Alley Panels. There was an opening reception on March 18, 1997. Unbeknownst to me, my mother’s mother, Marjorie Bonneville Eneroth, was flying down from Grand Marais, Minnesota to surprise me.
My grandmother happened to be a commercial artist for her entire professional career. She was an artist for the Duluth News Tribune in Duluth, MN. Before they used computers, she would hand draw beautiful models in fashion forward outfits, ads for patio furniture, political advertisements, you name it. Then, they would burn metal plates with acid using her illustrations and then run them in the newspaper. I hope I correctly described the process. That was what I understood at the time. If you’ve read some of my earlier blog posts, you read that I lived overseas for the first formative years of my life. My grandmother did visit me in South Africa and we would visit her in America every couple of years. I have memories of her during these visits giving me and my 2 brothers art lessons. My favorite lesson involved colored tissue paper and layers of Elmer’s glue mixed together. Another memory was that the walls in her house were lined with wood paneling and her oil paintings adorned these walls. I decided early on that I would follow in her footsteps and become an artist just like her.
To say I was surprised when she flew in for my art reception is an understatement. I was so proud to show her what I had been working on and how she had inspired that path that I was on. Not only did she attend my art reception at the HUB Art Alley Panels, but she also went to Morgan’s Market to see my solo show. She saw this painting, “Transcendent Serenity”, and bought it. This happened to be the first painting that I had ever sold. In true grandmother fashion, she paid double the asking price. She brought it back to MN and hung it next to my favorite painting of hers, an icy scene of Lake Superior. I was so honored. When she passed away, my aunt Nancy came into possession of it.
“Transcendent Serenity”, 24”x24”, Oil on Canvas, 1996, Private Collection, Morganton NC
Inspiration
“… the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.” Philippians 4:7-8
The composition was influenced by my love for the work of Georgia O’Keefe and my grandmother’s favorite flower, the iris.