Grey Matter

10 x 10, oil on canvas

"The wildest colts 

make the best horses" 

Plutarch

Red Tops

22 x 30, oil on canvas

"I was so much older then.

I'm younger than that now"

Bob Dylan

(Happy Birthday Mr. Dylan)

And they're off!

12 x 24, oil on canvas

Distance tests a horse's strength.

Time reveals a person's character.

(Chinese proverb)

If you are a representational painter in the southeast 

(Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia)

 please consider joining our dedicated group of WOMEN artists at 

WPSE, Women Painters of the Southeast (click here)

Burnished Morning

12 x 24, oil on canvas

"I don't believe in writers block. It is not that sometimes you can't write; it is that sometimes you can't write well. Experience has taught me that writing poorly sometimes leads to something better...

How you start each day depends on how you finished he day before. I never knock off at the end of a chapter, or the end of a sentence. I always stop in mid-sentence. Starting a new chapter or new paragraph first thing in the morning might be too much to bear. But I can always manage to finish a sentence. And one sentence has a way of following another if everything else around me is routine enough."

Anna Quindlen

Sage advice for writers...and painters who dread approaching a blank canvas first thing in the morning. Leave something on the easel to ponder over coffee the next day. 

Riders Up! Derby week is here!

18 x 24, oil on canvas

"Money, horse racing and women; 

three things the boys just can't figure out"

Will Rogers

(For those who asked, here is the SOKY article in an easier to read format):
           

“WHY do you draw or paint? What do you want your work to SAY? “ 

These were questions posed by one of my college art professors and, at age twenty, I had no clue how to answer them. It would take a Buddhist proverb “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear” along with several more years before my teacher would arrive in the form of a five-year old girl.  That girl is my darling granddaughter – and she would want me to tell you up front that she is now almost seven. She has helped me see that the above questions apply equally to all interests and vocations as we seek to understand why we are attracted to, or inspired by certain people, places and things. Another universal quest is to identify the intention, meaning and purpose our work holds for us and those we share it with. (Yes, a five year old can teach us all that and so much more!)

 Picasso knew all about the wisdom of children when he said, “We are all born artists. But the problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up”. If we observe a child, we see that she draws and paints for the sheer joy of it.  That is her only why. The joy of expression removes any fear of failure as her focus is locked into the adventure of discovery in the present moment. There is simply no room for apprehension or hesitation in a little heart that creates from that magical space of joy, wonder, and pure potential.

A century ago, Robert Henri famously taught his art students to “push on to paint the spirit of the thing… because what we need is more a sense of wonder, and less of the business of making a picture.”  To be honest, at first I couldn’t grasp the full meaning of that statement. (See how my patient my little teacher has been with me?) But my granddaughter’s approach to art helped me see that a bigger truth lies beneath the exuberance and joy in which work is created. When children share their art with us, we are not inclined to critique it for preciseness of drawing, color harmony, values or composition before we hang it on the refrigerator. Judgment is thrown out the window as the purity of intention surpasses those technical details. Children intuitively capture that sense of wonder Henri was referring to, because the underlying spirit of their subjects is all they see. And when we view their work, all we see is the energy and delight they bring to it. When any gift of creativity is received with the same joy it was created in, it becomes an exchange that uplifts and encourages both parties.  Ultimately, we discover that if we do what we love, and simultaneously share our strengths and talents with others, we serve humanity on a higher level. Deepak Chopra connects our life’s purpose with service when he explains “…when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of our own spirit…and lose track of time and create abundance in our own life as well as the lives of others.”

In 2007, I began writing about my art journey in a blog.  My original intention was merely to share what I was doing with family and friends, but it has taught me that the process of painting trumps the outcome. And the journey has evolved along with a variety of interests and opportunities.  I had a solo exhibit for the month of April, and this month I am donning the “hat of illustrator” for a new book called Cathedral Building, The Power of Purpose by Greg Coker. Next month I look forward to participating in Freedom Fest, a Humane Society fundraiser, where invited artists donate work garnered from painting sessions at Lexington horse farms. Discovery and continued learning is my lifelong pursuit, and who said it couldn’t be fun along the way?

So why do I paint? It has been in my heart and soul for as long as I remember. Like my granddaughter, I sketched as a way of documenting life as it unfolded. What I try to say with my art is that beauty exists in the most ordinary of moments, and I am humbled by the challenge of capturing that truth in paint.

As you read this, I hope you too will see the wonder in everything around you and keep a vigilant eye out for your next teacher (who may appear in disguise…just sayin’)
Faye Christian Phillips

And I leave you with these enchanting words by Neil Gaima…

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you are wonderful! And don’t forget to make some art – write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”

Bye George

Looking for something current to read?

Well, I am happy to say that my artwork is featured in not one, but two new publications. First I want to share information about a new book that I was honored to illustrate called Building Cathedrals, the Power of Purpose by author, motivational speaker and life coach Greg Coker, with contributions from Skip Wirth, Terry Daniels, and Dave Tatman. Using the story of the Fire of 1666 as a metaphor, we learn how Christopher Wren stepped in to accept the daunting task of rebuilding St. James Cathedral, and much of the city of London. The author offers modern day examples of successful leaders who also learned to use "personal fires" as incentive for growth and change. Readers are inspired to rebuild their own lives with a sense of purpose that includes supporting and encouraging others along the way. click here for more info

And starting today, you can pick up a copy of Soky Happenings Magazine where I am the featured artist for the merry month of May! (after all George is so "last year")click here for more info

an open book

12 x 16, oil on canvas

"Books fall open.

You fall in.

When you climb out again, 
you are a bit larger than you used to be."

Gregory Maguire

 Paintings are currently on display for the month of April 

at the Porter Cafe Gallery (click here for more info)

the poet's corner

8 x 10, oil on canvas

"The greatest poetry

is revealing to the reader

the beauty in something so simple,

that it was taken for granted.

That, I think, is the job of the poet.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

 Paintings currently on display for the month of April at the Porter Cafe Gallery (click here for more info) 

shelf esteem

8 x 10, oil on canvas

Books help to form us.

 If you cut me open, you will find volume after volume, page after page, 

the contents of every one I have ever read,

 somehow transmuted and transformed into me...

just as my genes and soul within. make me uniquely me, 

so I am the sum of the books I have read. 

I am my literary DNA. 

~ Susan Hill


 Paintings currently on display at the Porter Cafe Gallery April 4th thru May 1st.

exhibit

I am honored to announce that the following paintings will be on display at the Porter Cafe in the Main Street Library from April 4th through May 1st.  My theme is all about...what else?  READING, of course!


This exhibit is near and dear to my heart because, when I was ten, I first discovered my love of Michelangelo Buonoarroti in the pages of a book at my local library. Sitting in the middle of the aisle with that huge book, I wept as I studied those images - I just couldn't believe a mere mortal could create such powerfully beautiful sculptures and frescoes. With that discovery, I knew my view of art would be forever altered.  Books have a way of doing that. That is why we build libraries. We read something powerful, meaningful, eloquent, relevant, useful, intriguing, worthwhile...and we say I HAVE TO SHARE THIS WITH OTHER PEOPLE! Books connect us with ourselves. And libraries connect us with each other.

If you have frequented this blog since its 2007 beginning, you know that I have included a writer's quote with each painting because, for me,  they just go together like peas and carrots, bread and butter. I simply cannot conceive of one without the other, perhaps because both writers and artists begin with a blank page. Sometimes the quote precedes and inspires the painting, and sometimes it is the other way around - but either way, I have discovered that words and colors carry energy. Energy that has the potential for inspiring, healing, uplifting, touching peoples' lives in a meaningful way. I know I am certainly grateful for the images and words I discovered all those years ago.

And so, if you are "in the neighborhood" I do hope you will stop by and browse the gallery on your way to discover a great book (or several). In the meantime, I leave you with these images and words in the hope you will find them as joyful as I do...

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. 
I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful!
 And don't forget to make some art- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can.
 And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself." 
-Neil Gaiman

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

12 x 16, oil on canvas

"A good newspaper,

I suppose,

is a nation talking to itself"

Arthur Miller

Word Traveler

12 x 16, oil on canvas

"There is no frigate like a book

to take us lands away,

Nor any coursers like a page

of prancing poetry.

This traverse may the poorest take

Without oppress of toll;

How frugal is the chariot

that bears a human soul!

Emily Dickinson

malleable memoir

9 x 12, oil on canvas

"Live for awhile in the books you love.

Learn from them what is worth learning, but above all love them.

This love will be returned to you a thousand times over.

Whatever your life may become, these books - of this I am certain -

will weave through the web of your unfolding.

They will be among the strongest of all threads

of your experiences, disappointments, and joys"

Rilke Viareggio

Musing with Micajah

8 x 16, oil on canvas

"Dreams, books, are each a world; and books, we know,

Are a substantial world both pure and good:

Round these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood,

Our pastime and our happiness will grow."

William Wordsworth

kiss the cook(book)

12 x 12, oil on canvas

"Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian;

Wine and tarragon make it French.

Sour cream makes it Russian;

Lemon and cinnamon make it Greek.

Soy sauce makes it Chinese;

Garlic makes it good!"

Alice May Brock

The Big Picture

12 x 12, oil on canvas

As soon as I spotted this darling little guy in a Nashville bookstore, all settled in with his big book, I knew I had to paint him. Over the years, that bookstore became a favorite lunch destination with friends, or a cozy spot to enjoy a cup of tea while browsing for books. Sadly, the bookstore has since gone out of business. But the good news is that the store's closing spurred author Anne Patchett to open up her own little independent bookstore: Parnassus Books, aptly named for Mount Parnassus, a haven for "literature, learning and music" in Greek mythology. Anne's charm and enthusiastic voice have made it a modern-day version of Nora Ephron's ode independent bookstores ("You've Got Mail").

"Never be so focused on the thing you're looking for,

that you overlook the thing you actually find"

Anne Patchett

white tea for a rainy day

8 x 10, oil on canvas

"Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader.

Not that it is raining,

but the feeling of being rained upon"

D.L. Doctorow

20/20

6 x 8, oil on canvas

"Literature is personal,

always one man's vision of the world,

one man's experience,

and it can only be popular when men are ready

to welcome the vision of others."

W. B. Yeats

dawn's early light

12 x 12, oil on canvas

"The borderlessness of our world is most evident in wild places.

Nature spreads herself in all manner of variety and helps us to grasp her unity.

The tumbling tumbleweed knows no borders...

By honouring our world we speak to the universality of our mother earth."

Robert Genn

Holding Hearts and Hands

16 x 20, oil on linen

If pressed to choose a favorite subject to paint, I would have to say that portraying children, who are busy exploring their world and just being themselves, would be at the top of my list. Pondering other "faye-vorites" inspired the whimsical list below...

A frosting of fancy pearls,

and flip-flops on hardwood floors.

a fireplace with flames aglow,

the soft caress of fleecy fabrics, and a fluffy poodle.

Music, compliments of a forever flawless Jagger,

and dreams of a festive, fabulous Italia.

a fragrant fog of fresh limon,

fleur de lis,

french-toast and

fancy chocolate strawberries with tea.

fresh floating flowers and fields of pink peony,

flutes, fireflies, and tiny footprints,

fairy-tales and fantastic sunsets all painterly.

Twinkling lights, fuzzy photographs and

four cherished loves added to my "five-fambily"

Fair of face,

February's child is humbled

by figure eights

filled with grace.

fcp

Here's hoping you too find ways to celebrate all your favorite things. A great place to start can be found in Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts". The author, a young mother of six, is a photographer and gifted "painter of words" that inspire and uplift.

explore, imagine and dream...

"Lila"

12 x 16

Author Peggy Orenstein writes that "Children are naturally driven to understand their world. They live by that incessant creativity-inspiring "why? Why does the grass grow? Why is the sky blue? Why can't I fly? and to answer these questions, they experiment, imagine and explore. Their minds are free to wander and wonder." And this remains true until they enter school. Once they become first or second graders, they begin to compare their work with that of their peers when Ms. Orenstein points out that "Suddenly there are right and wrong answers. Expressing their own tentative understanding of an idea becomes less important than figuring out what the teacher makes of it" and the rigors of school replace the why questions with "what do you want me to do and how do you want me to do it?"

If you broach this topic with adults, you will discover that almost all of us have a story to share where this truth played out in our own lives. As children we asked WHY? As adults, parents, grandparents, caregivers and teachers, we are beginning to ask other questions.

WHO will be at the forefront of discovering new paths? WHAT will future classrooms look like as we dare to imagine better solutions? WHAT innovative approaches to learning can we implement now? HOW can we honor creativity and wonder? HOW can we provide a nurturing environment that encourages experimenting, imagining and exploring, so all minds are free to wander and wonder?

yesteryear

8 x 10, oil on canvas

This a still life set up featuring items of days gone by, which made me think of a Cole Porter song written in 1934, called "Anything Goes". In Mr. Porter's day, people took great pride in the clothes they wore and how they presented themselves. Fashion in the 21st century was projected by TV and movies (think Star Trek) to be Futuristic Matching Uniforms. It seems ludicrous now, but if you think about it, isn't that exactly what happened? Except, of course, designers have coined a cutting edge term for it: loungewear (not to be confused with pajamas, which look identical, but sport a considerably lower price tag)...

(just a we bit of humor for a Wednesday - beam me up Scottie)

"In olden days

a glimpse of stocking

was looked upon as something shocking,

but now, God knows,

anything goes"...

Cole Porter

"Save the clock tower!"

9 x 12, oil on canvas

Every time I see these old buildings, it brings a smile to my face, because I am instantly "transported" to the 1985 "Back to the Future" movie starring Michael J. Fox - a "timeless" family classic!

"Time changes everything

except something within us

that is always surprised by change."

Thomas Hardy

the quiet light

12 x 16, oil on canvas

"It is light that reveals, light that obscures, light that communicates.

It is light I "listen" to.

The light late in the day has a distinct quality, as it fades toward the darkness of evening.

After sunset there is a gentle leaving of the light,

the air begins to still, and a quiet descends.

I see magic in the quiet light of dusk.

I feel quiet, yet intense energy in the natural elements of our habitat.

A sense of magic prevails.

A sense of mystery.

It is a time for contemplation,

for listening..."

John Sexton

Life 101

12 x 16, oil on canvas

"The difference between school and life?
In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test.
In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson."
Tom Bodett

a new year

10 x 10, oil on canvas

Deepak Chopra says "babies bubble in bliss." And research supports this notion with the revelation that, unlike adults, the majority of a baby's sleep is spent in a deep, dream-filled slumber known as REM or rapid eye movement. Without the "noise" of language, infants have no labels, no judgments, and are never awake all night worrying about the future or regretting the past. Instead, a baby's world is filtered through the five senses. He learns to roll over, hold his head up, advance to sitting, crawling, standing. toddling--all in a matter of a few short months! With each stage of development, he acquires a brand new perspective --not just on January 1st, but in every moment, as each new situation becomes an opportunity for growth and discovery.

Children have so much to teach us about how to live and what is important, don't they?

~Wishing YOU

the innocence of childhood

fresh, new perspectives

with a dash of bliss,

And no matter what each new day brings your way,

may you find yourself wrapped

in a blanket of courage and hope,

blessings and light~

fcp