Inspiration, take it wherever you can find it. Tonight I found it at an opening of Dorothy Thompson's work at the Concord Art Association. I was so taken by the color and freedom on the postcard invite that I put it on my calendar as a must do event. Best laid plans often die a natural death after the relaxation of dinner and darkness set in but luckily not tonight. The show spanned four decades of drawings, printmaking, watercolor and oil painting. The work was a celebration of nature in all it's glorious color, intricacies, nuances and light. What a treat to see such accomplished work and the elegant woman behind it. Dorothy sat surrounded by bunches of flowers, quietly receiving her many admirers, friends and strangers. She had the loveliest smile I have ever seen. But my favorite thing was what she wrote in her artist statement. " The work evolved slowly, interrupted, as always, by the demands of a family life. But my development during these years is a testament to the fact that for women the second fifty years can be as fruitful as the first."
Thank you Dorothy Thompson for inspiring me in such a profound way and no doubt many others. Thank you to her husband and family for giving her a studio in 1968 for her 50th birthday. I was astonished when I figured out her age; her beauty belies her age. She is a stunning woman; the kind that seems so inside and out as there was not a mean line on her face. Henri Cartier Bresson said " A persons face is like a map of their life, you end up with the face you deserve. " So true!
