Pears & Bottles

Beverly Gurganus "Pears & Bottles" 20x16 Oil on Canvas

I started this piece a few months ago when I was asked to paint live at a student art show. Last year's show I painted portraiture, so this year I chose to paint still life. In this piece my challenge was to paint color glass while maintaining its transparency. I have done several drawings of transparency, but this is my first attempt painting a transparent object. I was intimidated at first, but as I continued to build up the paint and step back to view the painting, I grew very excited of its development. I am now in the process of planning my next still life that will also include colored glass along with the striped cloth.

MacArthur Museum Commissioning

Beverly Gurganus

"America's Heroes"

3ft. x 5 ft. Acrylic on Canvas

It has been a crazy past couple of months. My daughter's home schooling year has come to an end along with my art classes I teach, and my oldest daughter has graduated. In the midst of party planning, preparing for a Student Art Show, and closing out grades, I received an e-mail from a friend informing me of a museum looking for an artist to paint a panel for them to be displayed at our local Botanical Gardens. Of Course, I followed up on that by e-mailing my digital portfolio.

The Memorial requested that the theme of the panel be patriotic while honoring past and present veterans...the catch was I only had one week to plan and paint the panel. Above is what I came up with in such a short time. This piece will be at Norfolk Botanical Gardens June 18th thru the Summer.