Kathleen Flannagan

Family Tree

20.75 x 15", framed to 26.5 x 23 x 2"

Watercolor on 140 lb. Cold-pressed Watercolor Paper

$400

Take a walk near the Tea House at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens and when you see this Chinese Wingnut tree, notice the “lap.” Where the trunk separates into three great branches there is a valley in which small plants are growing. The next generation?

Artist's Statement:

I was fortunate to take art lessons when I was 10, courtesy of my mother. Later, as an art teacher and school administrator I supported artist-in-residence programs in schools, but rarely took time to create my own works of art. Now I'm experiencing a new sense of challenge and of accomplishment that I enjoyed seeing in students throughout my career.

Last year, I began photographing and painting garden discoveries: the amazing variety of color in purple coneflowers, the beauty in dried leaves beside blooming native plants in the woods such as Pink Lady Slippers and Jack in the Pulpit, or the transition coloring and myriad shapes of cherry tomatoes. While I try to represent the subject of a painting, I also try to keep paintings fresh with clean colors and light. Each painting is a discovery, a celebration of creation, and hopefully, something pleasant to view.