Oil painting reproductions

Oil painting reproductions
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The latest exhibit in the Community Artists' League's continuing series features a combination of oil paintings on canvas and hand-dyed silken fabrics.Artists Mary Lou Flatt and Lizz Harris joined forces to present the CAL exhibit for January. The exhibit is on display in the Goldie Mayfield Gallery at E.G. Fisher Public Library in Athens.Harris said it was Flatt's idea to exhibit their artwork together, and they coordinated the pieces side-by-side.I hung hers and then she hung mine," Harris said. "I think it all sort of came together.""We both thought it would be neat to do what we have done in this show," Flatt added.Flatt's first painting in the exhibit dates to 1992. Her later works are not dated, an oversight she plans to remedy."That was one of my first ones," Flatt said, pointing out an oval-framed painting of her granddaughter playing in a fountain.

She mainly paints from portrait oil painting, but also occasionally takes her inspiration from still lifes. Her painting of a blue-crested bird was inspired by a photo she saw in a book."My favorite (subjects) are birds," she said.Flatt said her grandchildren inspired her to paint and it was a neighbor, the late Helen Barham, who taught her to work with oils."We would paint together and she would teach me ... everything that was important in a painting," she said.Flatt learned to paint using oils and it remains her favored medium."Oils are forgiving," she said, adding you can correct errors easily. "It takes a week, at least, for an oil painting to dry."The exhibit includes Flatt's paintings of four of her seven grandchildren: Rachel, Steven, Kevin and Shannon. Her other grandchildren - Jennifer, David and Brian - have also been the subjects of other paintings.One photo in the exhibit shows Kevin wading in the creek on her farm alongside Flatt's dog, Gypsy

Although many of her paintings are large, Flatt displays them at her home in the Sanford community south of Riceville."My walls look bare right now," she said.Flatt has been a CAL member since 1992."It's been a great opportunity for me to meet fellow artists," she said. "This I do for myself."Flatt retired from her full-time teaching job in 1990 after years of teaching special education classes at Riceville, Calhoun and Rogers Creek elementary schools. She now works part-time as a substitute teacher for Athens City Schools."I started out doing it for a friend and it mushroomed," she said, adding she now substitutes for all classes. "I love the variety."Flatt prefers to paint during early morning hours and she has been known to spend all day working on a piece. She begins each painting with a sketch and applies paint over top.Flatt and her husband, Jerry,have
three sons, Dr. James Flatt of Huntsville, Ala., Joel Flatt of Dothan, Ala., and Jeff Flatt ofMcMinnville. Harris said that Oil painting reproductions of the exhibit features a few framed art pieces, but mainly her fabric art."I'm taking this concept and working it into my scarves," she said of the framed pieces, which feature quotations.In addition to scarves, Harris's art on display includes kimonos and caftans. She said her fabric art "is all about feeling good and having a sense of fun."

That "sense of fun" is inspired, in part, by a color therapy class Harris took several years ago.In addition to creating her own art, Harris teaches at The Arts Center, Wellington Place Assisted Living of Athens and NHC Health Care of Athens. Oil painting reproductions the senior citizens she works with seem especially uplifted by the artistic experience.