Anna-Marie

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MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

24”x36” Oil on Canvas
Original $2000
Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $700
(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)
10% Donated for micro loans to women

Anna-Marie and the baby, Juan Carlos, ‘smiled’ for the camera. The husband and father, Jose, remained in the background. A family portrait.

We met this family in the displaced shelter in Medellin where my daughter, Alina, volunteered while she lived and did graduate research for a year. Everyone loved this baby. He was passed from arm to arm. “What a beautiful child”, we all crooned. As I look at this painting, he looks so much like his mother.

This family looked very unsettled and nervous. They had recently arrived at the shelter. The father had somehow miraculously escaped and was hiding from the drug terrorists. The guerillas or para military usually abduct the men and gave the women and children only minutes to flee. Sometimes a few lucky and courageous men escape the torment and kidnapping of their captors but have to go into hiding.

Anna-Marie wanted photos, a document of her baby and the family. They were beautiful African-Colombians beautiful with rich colored skin and striking features. I love painting the depth of the skin color with its reflections.

I do not know much of this family, except for one devastating fact. One week after we visited the shelter, Jose, the father, the husband, was hunted down to this hiding place and was shot dead in front of the shelter.

Life is brutal. Colombians have lived with this torment from the drug trade for years. It has torn families and their country apart. It is improving to the point where people can now travel out of their homes and communities, and we could explore as tourists, but the threat is always present. And for what? So the U.S. can have its drugs! Mexico is now experiencing this same horror.

Flora

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PISAC, PERU

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

30”x30” Oil on Canvas
Original $2000
Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $700
(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)
10% Donated for micro loans to women

I drove with my family a couple of hours outside of Cuzco, Peru to the some wonderful ruins in Pisac where we found these two women weaving. They put a stake in the ground; 5’ to 6’ away, tied their yarn to it, 8-10 strands, and pulled it tight as they wove a weft of colors into the warp. Intricate designs emerged from their fingertips – small narrow strips, perhaps belts. They sat in the dusty brown dirt. Below them was a steep, terraced mountain.

I took the photo from a distance, about 30 feet away. This woman looked up and laughed at a friend walking by who is not in the scene. Her hands were not still, she continued weaving without looking. The balls of yarn sat beside her, waiting for the switchback weaving to be made into a useful, artistic product.

Her hands show her purpose for creating. How I love the hands as they hold and separate the yarn to weave. I understand and relate to her busy hands at work. How important our hands are: ten digits cooperatively working in harmony together. While it is the mind that controls the hand, the spirit allows them to create without the mind’s thinking. Hum, hands… I feel blessed to have hands to create.

I wonder how old is this women? I cannot tell. Today the stems of live flowers with bright magenta petals are woven into the top of the hat of the woman sitting in the foreground. I look for a name that I can give this weaver. Flora, flower. Yes, she brightens up the landscape wrapped in her vivid colors, much like a flower as she weaves the colorful belts.

Gracia

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OTAVALO, ECUADOR

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

18”x36” Oil on Canvas
Original $2000
Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $600
(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)
10% Donated for micro loans to women

This wise looking woman was standing in a plaza in Otavalo, Ecuador. I motioned to ask if it was okay to I take her photo. She stood confidently in the square with her cane in one hand and grinned widely, deeply, loving the attention. She was a lady dressed in rags. Beneath them one could tell she was a slight woman. Her girth was great due to the number of pieces of material wrapped around her for warmth with old frayed belts to help hold up the layers. A blue folded piece of material in a triangular shape was placed on her head. She was barefoot. Elements from many photos were taken to create this painting.

I do not know if she was so excited to have her photo taken because she knew she would receive some money for this pose, or that I truly saw the beauty in her. I was interested in her the beggar. I saw pride, style and an impish sense of humor. She wore vibrant orange strands of beads wrapped around both wrists and rings on her fingers. Her smile was broad, with one tooth to show. Her eyes looked directly at me, as if to say, I have style, a heart, feeling and a story. I would love to know more about her.

To me, she is beautiful. She stands, confidently, boldly, courageously. But it is her eyes, her face, and the wrinkles that show her spirit. There is a sparkle and twinkle in her eyes. How old is she? The creases on her face map out her life. I have never painted such wrinkles before. They call me at a time when I am noticing my own wrinkles emerging. I don’t like them. Our culture does not honor our natural aging and gray hair because we all want to look young. What can she teach me? She gives me is the power to find beauty in everyday life. She has style and grace.

Grace or Gracia – perhaps this is what I should call her. She seems to have the Grace to accept life and wrap rags around herself with style, to smile broadly and look me in the eye and receive the coins I give her to feed herself. She teaches me to accept aging gracefully. Accept life with dignity and be thankful for ones blessings, this is Gracia.

Kati

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MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

24”x36” Oil on Canvas
Original $2000
Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $700
(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)
10% Donated for micro loans to women

Kati lives in a displaced shelter where people are enduring hardship beyond comprehension. I know her story through my daughter, Alina. She lived in Colombia on a Rotarian Scholarship and volunteered at the shelter. Our family visited her in 2008.

Kati is a well educated woman, a school teacher who had lived on a farm with her husband. In the middle of the night a group of men, the para military or guerillas connected with the drug trade, entered their home and pointed the gun at her husband. They gave Kati 30 minutes to gather her things and leave. She was 2 months pregnant with her first child at 39. She has no idea what has happened to her husband but hopes he is still alive. She believes he was captured for his ability to work the land; he was a big man with strong hands. She then made her way to the shelter for displaced people in Medellin.

In the photos I noticed the strange graphic on Kati’s shirt of a high society woman with a big polka dotted hat, walking a ‘designer’ dog, smoking a cigarette and a strange image of the playboy bunny logo. I did not want to paint this. After all, this was more about Kati and her pregnancy. But I could not ignore its presence. This shirt was most likely donated to her. It showed the dichotomy of her ‘real’ life in a shelter, barely having enough food, wearing the portrayal of a wealthy, party-like woman, the kind that may be using the drugs that Colombia provides.

A week after we met Kati, she had her baby, a boy. There are many families in the same state of upheaval. Can they survive? I yearn to know where Kati is now. She asked Alina to be her child’s godmother, but she since has lost contact with her. Is the baby getting food? Health care? Is Kati able to work? Is there any word of her husband? This is about drugs, money and greed and the havoc they wreak on so many lives!

Lana

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Cuzco, Peru

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

30”x30” Oil on Canvas
Original $2000
Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $700
(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)
10% Donated for micro loans to women

High in the Andes this woman spins the llama wool. The rough yarn is wrapped around her left hand while she spins the tool that encircles the spun yarn. Her hands are delicate yet callused and agile. They know the routine, and as she looks up from her work to glance at me. I take the photo and pay her. She has her young son with her and the llama. The son is not happy to be here, he is in front and mad. He looks at me as I take the photos with a scowl on his face as if saying “I don’t want to be here for you to take my photo” I cannot include him in my painting.

It is cold. She wears her woolen clothes with her top hat, decorated with patterns, different than other hats we had seen. She glances up for a moment. I may have painted her happier than she was. I added the wall from an archeological site nearby, ‘Sacsayuaman’, or as we jokingly remembered it ‘Sexy woman’. The location has wonderful stone work thrones carved out of the rock, natural slides weathered by the rains and intricately engineered stout walls. This wall had a serpent meandering through it. The larger stone just left of her head is the serpent's head, with the body flowing to the right.

The hands, yes it is the hands once again, that speak to me more than the expression of her face. She is not revealing to me who she is – there is a mask of a smile, harshness with a reluctant presence. Her hands show nimbleness – the comfort lives in the repetition of the doing. This is what she knows, what has been passed down generation to generation. The llama sits at her side providing the wool and warmth.

This is Lana. Yes, she weaves the wool. Lana is wool in Spanish.

Lois

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ENCINITAS, CALIFORNIA

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

18”x36” Oil on Canvas
Original $2000
Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $600
(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)
10% Donated for micro loans to women

This is the first portrait in this project of someone I know well. I feel brave to have attempted such a task. I am grateful for Lois’ presence in my life. I began journaling with her when I had turned 50, searching for what was next for me as my kids left the nest. I know my life would not be the same without the work I have done with her and my beloved journaling group.

I see Lois as a song bird with yellow markings, delicate, with a sweet melody, quickly flapping her wings to stay afloat, then gracefully soaring in the sky. She searches for other’s stories in order to understand her own. Sometimes she flies in the flock, often a leader, but leads from the middle of the pack. She gathers good souls around herself, but cherishes her time alone. The solitude and quiet allow her to have much time creating her markings, putting her pen to paper to corral her thoughts, her life. In recent years, she’s created magical books with great depth, honesty and creative inspiration. Yes, she is an artist of the world.

As a bird, Lois sees the big picture of the world. She soars in the sky. She sees past lives, past the stars and moon and feels a freedom in the air. But sometimes, BAM… she flies right into a glass window. She knows failure well. Injured, she picks herself up, hobbles away and hides to recover, regroups and then rejoins the flock once again.

I owe this project of ‘Relevant Women’ to Lois, and to this group for listening, encouraging, reflecting as I searched for my new self after parenting for my direction for my own relevance. They believed in me when I did not. They listened to my doubt again and again, they helped me sift through many creative ideas for paintings. Lois brings us, the flock, together in the comfortable and safe tree tops. She sets the stage with her loving kindness towards each of us and then allows the magic to whirl.

In this painting, Lois is grounded, confident and glowing. A “Woman” with “Relevance”! She can see her successes beyond her failures. Continue sing-ing your song and soaring high, Lois. High enough to miss those windows!

Lolita

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Cuzco, Peru

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

18”x36” Oil on Canvas
Original $2000
Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $600
(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)
10% Donated for micro loans to women

Lolita, a young girl, stands in the center of the city in Cuzco, Peru, altitude; 11,200 feet on a cold December day. She is on the steps in front of an old stone building. My interaction with her is only minutes, yet she still lives in my memory, and comes alive to me as I paint her from my photos. I love all the patterns on her clothes and enjoy painting the details. Her eyes peek out from the shadow of her hat. She is pretty. I want to look into her eyes to see her soul, to look for joy, but she protects herself, her eyes hide in the shadows of her hat. She is so young, yet this is her job. She stands in the square for the tourists to photograph her. The baby alpaca she holds is so cute, appealing and adds to the scene.

This image of this young girl brings up so many questions in my mind. How old is she? What will her future be? She looked resigned to this ‘job’ as an attraction for tourists to take her photo. Is this the part she plays to help feed her family? After this, does she get time to run and play in the fields, to be a kid? Does she go to school? Have health care? With this being the only life she knows, is she content in the highlands of Cuzco? Can I ever really understand her life?

I would love to know more of her world and as I paint this series of women and girls around the world, I am curious about their lives. I want to take time to ask questions for a greater understanding and needs of women. Can my paintings bring any awareness to women’s issues, as well as to their resilience and determination? I look for hope in their eyes and their inherent beauty as I paint them. Lolita is a gem.

Njeri

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KENYA & SAN DIEGO, CA

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

18”x36” Oil on Canvas
Original $2000
Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $600
(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)
10% Donated for micro loans to women

My painting of Njeri (Jeri) looks back at me with such joy. I can’t help but smile. She has recently immigrated with two of her adult children to San Diego to join her husband and oldest daughter. Njeri’s beauty, shyness and my curiosity of her story combined compelled me to create this portrait.

I chose this painting of Njeri to work from with hands framing her face in a moment of genuine laughter and softness, her sweet smile with beautiful, perfect white teeth and gorgeous dark velvet-like skin. Her hands are strong and large, lovingly holding her face, her spirit. These are working hands.

In Kenya, Njeri grows her own food and sells what remains. She once owned three cows for milk but had to sell two to pay for visas and medical clearances for her family to come to the states. This woman knows how to work, how to support herself, how to grow her food. She has skills and a lifestyle way beyond my own comprehension.

After many months in San Diego, Njeri returned to Kenya to check on her home. A group of us loaned her money to take back yarn to her village to crochet blankets and hats, hoping to help replace her lack of income from her cows. This could be the start of setting up micro loans to help women start a new business, enabling women to support their lives with their art.

When Njeri returned to the U.S., I shared the finished portrait with her. I felt some anxiousness. How would she react? Njeri didn’t have many words. She acted a bit shy, perhaps embarrassed, to be seen larger than life in a painting. It is a lot to take in. She smiled and laughed and put her hand over her mouth. I commented on how beautiful I think she is and how much I enjoyed painting her. I asked her how she was feeling. She really couldn’t say.

Then Njeri proudly showed me her crocheted throws and many colorful hats. They are gorgeous and ready to sell. She had a show and sold almost all of her inventory and she has repaid her loan. What an accomplishment.

Marisol

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CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

18”x36” Oil on Canvas
Original $2000
Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $700
(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)
10% Donated for micro loans to women

My series of “Relevant Women” paintings from women around the world all began with this Colombian Fruit Lady. She was the one that called to me and still brings me such joy and inspiration. Alina, my daughter, first gave me the encouragement, “Mom, you could paint that”.

This fruit seller gave me a great pose as I took her photo. She was enjoying this moment on life’s stage. The day was the usual hot, steamy and sticky weather of the Caribbean in Cartagena. She stared at me. She lowered her shoulder and gave me a playful smile as if to say, ‘Yes, remember me’. Her smile beckoned me to paint her. I love the playfulness in her gaze.

Marisol offers the sweet juices of her ripe, exotic fruit. Her knife is poised and ready to do its work. Other ladies selling fruit pose for photos shyly and sheepishly. What are their untold stories?

To paint her face was an out of body experience. I do not know how it evolved from the brain, to the hand, to the brush to the paint to the canvas. It sometimes feels like magic. How alive I feel while painting! I find I want to search out more photos of people from my travels. I let the brush fly, feeling uncontrolled, yet knowing where each brush stroke will rest. How daring and exciting. The lesson is in the motion and in the moment.

I want the viewer to search out the face in the shadows and enjoy the bowl full of tropical fruit. Taste it. Smell it. Feel the heat. Enjoy the cool of the shade with patches of filtered sun.

Marisol, yes, this name fits her. She lives by the sea: mar, and shines like the sun: sol. Marisol, I have not forgotten you.

Paciencia

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CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

18”x36” Oil on Canvas
Original $2000
Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $600
(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)
10% Donated for micro loans to women

I bring my painting of the shy woman from Cartagena, carrying fruit on her head, to my journaling group to join our circle. I sit down to write my story as to how this project of painting women around the world came about, wanting to raise awareness of women’s issues. It started out okay, but by the end the writing felt muddled, murky, and preachy. I didn’t know where to go with it. Doubt creeps in. Not doubt of the painting, but this process. I drag my feet and move slowly.

I look up, the woman in this painting gives me a sly smile as I glance at her. She knows something I do not know. What is it? The fruit seller speaks to me softly, as if to say, “Yes, I know you have to go through doubt and fear, but you know what you need to do”. Her arm juts out with her fist resting on her hip. “Okay already”. She speaks without words. She is a bit shy. She allows the fruit to be in full sun while her face laps up the shade on this steamy hot day. A heavy fruit bowl is placed on her head. It is a balancing act - yes life is a balancing act.

“Do not to give up,” she tells me with that sly smile and twinkle in her eye. Keep moving forward, the same as she does every day, to sell her fruit in the shade of giant trees in the open square. I’m curious, and ask the image of her in paint, “What is your name?” Nothing comes to me. She is elusive.

This woman does not get the same attention as my other painting of a fruit lady from Cartagena. She is not as bold or daring, but was willing to have her photo taken and pose for me. I like her quietness. It perhaps reminds me of myself as a young girl.

It takes baby steps to grow and I can see that this is what I need to remind myself when I feel doubt. Have patience. Oh, perhaps this is your name - patience in Spanish, Paciencia. She tells me to let life unfold, but keep moving forward. I paint my own message, my lesson, my inner self. Is Paciencia only a reflection of myself? Look into her face. What does she reveal to you?

I Caged the Muse

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WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

Self Portrait 1997

At the time I painted it, I had no idea “I Cage the Muse” would turn into the first portrait of my Relevant Women project. This painting was a class assignment in 1997. I chose to reflect the art of Mexican artist Freda Kahlo. I was intrigued by her images and their extreme personal nature.

“I Cage the Muse” came at a time in my life when I was experiencing an artistic struggle. I wanted more time for my painting and art. However, I was a stay at home mom, dedicated to my children, their school/education, our home, my husband. I was fitting in my art, but it never felt like enough.

I adored being with both my children, Alina and Tolan, yet I also felt a strong creative pull. My muse felt caged yet I realized I was the only one who caged the muse. It was how I chose to look at the situation. I put this birdcage on myself. I felt as if my creative life was lost in the overwhelming daily small details of my life as a busy mom. But in retrospect, I am amazed at how much I did produce during that time.

My husband, Doug, was my angel, the one who helped lift the cage off by continuously supporting and believing in me, and my art. He said to me “Why don’t you stay in your studio (instead of the small jobs teaching art in the schools I was taking on) and create!” Wow, what a GIFT!

As our children grew older, I felt uncomfortable with the painting. I did not want them to feel guilty or feel like they were caging me. I was caging myself! I left this painting in the garage until Alina and Tolan were off to college. When I brought it back into the house and looked around at my other paintings as well, I saw how I had only emotionally caged my muse, because, to my complete surprise, I also saw how much art I had created during my years as a full time mom.

I was and am relevant as a mother and as an artist. Now I am creating a global circle of relevant woman. As I paint each woman’s portrait in the Relevant Women project. I now know it started with my own.