PALETTE TALK
talkin' about watercolor, art, and life

Getting ready for the 7^th Annual Magnolia Festival Art Show here in Durant, Oklahoma has occupied most of my time the last few weeks. The show  takes place in the center of the Magnolia Festival activities, May 29-30 and is held in a cool indoor building on Main & 2^nd .                                                                  
Each year the search for a different way to paint a magnolia gets me out with camera and sometimes even step ladder. Always looking for just the right magnolia shape and lighting to inspire.  I take lots of pictures back to the studio. Often I find just the right lighting but not on the magnolia I want to paint. Well, that’s what painting is all about, putting it together to come up with a good composition that has a story to be told.
I like being challenged to paint something new each year. Usually the chosen magnolia comes from our local Southeastern campus. We have for many years been known as the Campus of a Thousand Magnolias … thus the name of the festival. At first it was unusual for southeastern Oklahoma to be filled with magnolia trees but now seems a very natural thing since they grow so well here. The campus trees are very large and old with much character and have influenced Durant to spring up with lots of trees all over town. The last 3 years my magnolia paintings came from such trees and each seemed to speak their personal story to me. This year I selected a newly blooming tree from Kansas. Daughter, LuAnn and family planted about 6 trees at the back of their property a few years ago. I wondered if they would grow and was pleasantly surprised when all but one did. They have had 3 years in their new home and are growing strong. Looking at the blooms reminded me of my children as babies … no scratches, perfect soft peach skin and clear eyes of wonder. The baby magnolia faces were sheltered by the large waxy leaves as they grew and stood like little toddlers in the Kansas landscape. Lu’s Magnolia is the same kind of magnolia that we have here in southern Oklahoma.  Amazing that  southern magnolias from Mississippi and Georgia are also found in Oklahoma and Kansas.
Our families no longer stay in one area either with children and their children in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, and even in Iraq. Probably sounds like your family too.  
Have a blessed day and maybe we'll see some of you at the Magnolia Festival.