Daddy's Christmas Angel

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

"A" is for Artist - A to Z Challenge

Farrah Ferand is the heroine of my new novel, Evening of the Dragonfly, and she is an artist. Since in the book Farrah is creating a one-person painting exhibition for a gallery in Richmond, it seemed like a fun idea for her to create the paintings for that show as part of the A to Z Challenge. I'm hoping to have her create only six or eight paintings during the 26 days of the Challenge. To do that, Farrah would paint a portion of a painting each day. Already, that plan has gone astray as I have a finished painting for today.

Farrah has a troubled past and repressed memories. We will see her uncover some of that past as she creates new paintings, or parts of paintings, each day.


"Moonshine" ©Mary Montague Sikes
When Farrah was a child, her mother and her grandfather told her tales about some of their relatives making and selling moonshine in the back woods of western Virginia. Farrah was intrigued by the stories and believes she should include a painting that relates to them in the exhibition. That's why she has titled the first painting created for the A to Z Challenge, "Moonshine". The painting is watercolor on canvas, 24" x 18".

12 comments:

Sharon Himsl said...

This is so interesting Mary. An artist in a novel...love it!

Sue McPeak said...

Mary...Farrah is off to an inspiring start with her first work with it's many moons shinning on the Evening of the Dragonfly. Wonderful title and I am looking forward to Farrah's dragonfly painting.

This is such a creative idea on many levels. Congrats on an excellent start!
Sue at CollectInTexas Gal
AtoZ 2015 Challenge
Minion for AJ's wHooligans

L. Diane Wolfe said...

That's beautiful!

David P. King said...

That's something I'd love to hang on my wall. :)

Rebecca M. Douglass said...

Beautiful!

Luana Krause said...

Wonderful theme idea! I also am an artist. Your paintings are captivating. At one point I was doing a pastel sketch every night before bed.

Deborah Weber said...

I love your theme - it's going to be such fun to follow along this month. And what a fabulous painting.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I can see the moonshine!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Monty - this is going to be great - your first art work for Farrah is fabulous .. and I too wouldn't mind having it sent over! Stunning creation .. cheers Hilary

Nilanjana Bose said...

Vibrant art! Farrah is an intriguing name

Cheers,
Nilanjana.
Madly-in-Verse

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

Thank you, Sharon. They say, "Write what you know!
Sue, I hope Farrah can keep up the pace! Thank you!
Diane, thanks!
David, it will be available someday! Thanks!
Rebecca, thank you!
Luana, I appreciate your comment since you, too, are an artist. I love working in pastel because it is so direct.
Deborah, thanks. I think it will be fun, too, if life doesn't get in the way.
Alex, yes!
Hilary, thank you. It's good to have a finished pieces in one day, but I want to create large pieces for the show. They will take more than one day to paint.
Nilanjana, thank you. I love the name, Farrah. More about that when we get to "f".

Nicole said...

It's so refreshing to see an artist and art/painting theme for this April blogging adventure! The painting has really nice colors. I can't believe Farrah is painting a new work each day (or is she adding to a work from the previous day?) throughout the month. That would drive me insane. I'm getting back into drawing and need at least a week to work on my sketches, lol.

Cheers to you and Farrah!

~Nicole
A to Z Challenge CO-HOST
The Madlab Post