Arizona Flower (Ellis)

by Godfrey J. Ellis – 12×16 Acrylic Oct 2019

My lovely granddaughter, Lucy, was becoming quite the young woman. I thought the photo of her back-lit in front of an Arizona tropical plant (see below) was striking and I foolishly thought I could capture that background. I could not. I almost gave up in frustration several times. The semi-abstract background you see was the last in several attempts and was the best I could manage. The main subject, Lucy, came out fairly well considering how new I was to painting people.

Lucy is shown below holding her painting. Does she look pleased? I think she was….

The portraits of the three girls were hung in the family’s living room, much to the girls’ chagrin. My wife took a photo of the painting and put it on fabric so that she could make a pillow out of it. That way, Lucy could have the picture in her bedroom. We gave it to them the next Christmas. Here is Lucy’s pillow: