Art Gallery

 

The Ocean Course The beautiful coastline and barrier island beaches of South Carolina inspired The Ocean Course. This is more than a painting of the famed Kiawah Island golf course. It is about the beauty of nature; the sea grass overlooking the mystical ocean, the feel of the ocean breezes caressing your face, the smell of the salty air and the taste that lingers on your lips after a long day on the beach or the course.

Hydrangea High Hydrangea High was like painting a symphony for an orchestra.  The colors and tones of the flowers highlighted the different shades of lively purples, pinks and blues. I especially love the hydrangeas that surround the front and sides of my home. This piece was painted as a “plain-air”.  I wanted to catch the harmonies and colors as they danced from flower to flower.

Pathway of the Passed This was a very emotional and inspiring subject to paint. Pathway of the Passed is about color, peacefulness, spirituality and balance. Creating this painting was like writing a piece of music that starts in a major key, modulating to its relative minor sooon to return to the major pathway that leads home.

Indian Summer Harmonies I love the South Carolina Lowcountry and this painting depicts what you would see in the early morning or late afternoon of a lowcountry summer.The time was late October (“Indian Summer” in South Carolina) when I saw this doe standing in the salty marsh casting her shadow. The color was a sepia brown golden light. Indian Summer Harmonies was my way of capturing that moment in time

Jim’s Place I painted Jim’s Place for a guitar student of mine. He described in general what he wanted, but then left it up to me. This was a lot of fun to paint.  I love the colors and lines in Jim’s Place.

Peace In The Palmettos This painting captures the very rare dusting of snow in the South Carolina Lowcountry. The church in the background and the light sprinkling of snow in the palmetto trees provide a sense of tranquility and calmness.

Dance Of The Daffodils My neighbor, Clara, every spring brings to my house a beautiful bright sunny yellow fresh handpicked bounty of daffodils. I always bring them upstairs to my studio to enjoy the smell and color. This spring the flowers were bigger than ever. I put them in a vase and set them on a table. The next morning when I went upstairs, the flowers were bowing down to touch the red tablecloth. This inspired me to paint a still life, right that moment. I did not want to wait because I wanted to capture their finale.

A Day With Lily Lily, my granddaughter, was visiting me on a warm early June morning. We were outside chasing butterflies and smelling flowers. We went around to the back of my house where I have a daylily garden. Lily picked three big colorful daylilies. We put them in a vase and went upstairs to my studio to mix colors. Lily helped me with the brush strokes and mixing the colors. Spending a day with Lily resulted in a beautiful painting and a wonderful day.

The Guitar Man The man that inspired my music, my art, and my life is my father. He is a very talented musician and I admire his mastery of the guitar. I painted the Guitar Man, because that is my Dad.

Lutenist Revolution My former guitar teacher, Christopher Berg, is also a lutenist. The Lutenist Revolution was a fun piece to paint because the formal concert attire was replaced by a rock star look. Mr. Berg is a professor at the University of South Carolina and head of the guitar program. This painting was a different idea that was inspirational to create.

Atlantic Coast Despatch An old 1924 newspaper clipping that my mother mailed to me inspired this painting.  Under the picture was information about the railroad shop crew at Florence Atlantic Coast Line after they captured the world record for freight car construction completing their feat in only forty eight and one-half man-hours. My grandfather, L.F. Barr, and my great uncle, Alex Barr, were part of the railroad crew. Painting this piece provided a very emotional and inspiring rush of feelings. I wanted to capture the atmosphere and the ghosts of yesterday. (Note that the spelling of “despatch” is correct. That was the old form of spelling in 1924.)

Morning Run The stallion, of course, is the subject. The painting has a freedom about it. I think the movement and color make the eye travel around the painting, bringing you closer to the Morning Run.

The Firmament Grandeur This painting was inspired by a beautiful sunset on Lake Lure, North Carolina. It was such an inspiration to paint. It made me feel closer to God’s great creation.

The Marvie Marvie is my beautiful mother. Mom and my dad used to salt water fish at least once a week. My mom is also very talented and I was inspired to paint The Marvie to capture that part of my mom.

The Parents This painting was inspired when my mother-in-law Lillian Strickland, gave me an old (1949) photograph taken with my late father-in-law Bill. Creating this painting was very special to me. I wanted to bring life to the old photo. I used warm sepia colors to contribute to the age of the painting. This was also a very emotional piece for me to paint. I felt so close to Lillian and Bill. I didn’t realize how much I missed my beloved father-in-law, Bill, but I know he would have approved of this painting.

 

 The Guitar Series

The guitar series of paintings comprise a large body of work.  This series was inspired through my love of guitar. I love the classical guitar and the large repertoire of music that accompanies it. Launch the music player to listen to me play the songs that inspire my work.

Evening Practice After the last guitar student leaves for the day, I love to watch the sun filter through my studio window. I know it won’t be long before the day turns into evening. I place my old friend on the table and go downstairs for supper. I know I will soon return for Evening Practice.

 

Guitars In The Palmettos My love of guitar and the native palmetto trees of my home state, South Carolina, inspired this piece. I enjoyed painting this musical scene. Combining the guitar theme with the swaying palmettos set up an endless idea of movement.

Ciudad de Guitarra This composition reflects the music from Castles of Spain. The beautiful melodies and harmonies entwine to produce an intoxicating lyrical and poetic explosion of beautiful sounds and visual imagery.

Primal Prelude This piece was inspired by the Gorilla Music composition from the Pilgrim Forest CD by Christopher Berg, Professor of Music at the University of South Carolina. This was fun to paint because of the many different movements and rhythms. It was like creating a forest to frolic in.

Jungle Music This was just plain fun to paint.  I loved creating all of the jungle animals - some which were planned, some not. See if you can find all of the creatures!

The Players Inspiration for this piece came very easily from being a woman and a classical guitarist. I thought I would have fun with the playful movements of the ladies.

Nautical Eclipse My daughter Kerry inspired Nautical Eclipse. She loves sailboats and the colors of yellow and purple.

Contact:

Bonita Strickland
Lexington, SC 29071 USA

Phone (803) 356-5990
Email me.