Anna-Marie

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MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

24”x36” Oil on Canvas
Original $3000
Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $700
(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)
10% Donated for micro loans to women

We met Ana-Marie and her family in the displaced shelter in Medellin where my daughter volunteered. The family looked very unsettled and nervous. In their town, the guerillas or para military abducted the men and gave the women and children only minutes to flee. Her husband, Jose, had miraculously escaped and was hiding from the drug terrorists.

Anna-Marie wanted photos, a document of her baby and the family. This was, most likely, their last portrait. One week later, Jose was hunted down and shot dead in front of the shelter.

Colombians have lived with terror from the drug trade for years. It has torn families and their country apart. For what? So the U.S. can feed its drug habit?

 

Flora

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PISAC, PERU

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

30”x30” Oil on Canvas
Original $3000
Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $700
(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)
10% Donated for micro loans to women

Outside of Cuzco, Peru, at the ruins of Pisac I took a photo of two women weaving. They put a stake in the ground 5’ to 6’ away, tied their yarn to it and pulled it tight as they wove the colors into intricate designs. They sat in dusty brown dirt. One looked up and laughed at a friend walking by as she continued her work.

The weaver’s hands show her purpose for creating as they hold and separate the yarn. I understand and relate to her busy fingers. How important our hands are: ten digits cooperatively working in harmony together. While it is the mind that controls our hands, the spirit allows them to create without the brain interfering.

I wonder how old is this woman? I cannot tell. Bright magenta petals are woven into the top of her hat. 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 $3000
Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $600
(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)
10% Donated for micro loans to women

Her bare feet were firmly planted as this woman stood confidently in the square, grinning widely for the camera. Her girth was great due to the layers of rags wrapped around her for warmth. Dark eyes looked directly at me as if to say, “I have a heart, feeling and a story.”  I saw pride, style and an impish sense of humor.

I think she is beautiful. She stands confidently, boldly, courageously. But it is her eyes, her face, and the wrinkles that show her spirit. How old is she? The creases on her face map her life. I have never painted such lines before. They call to me at a time when I am noticing my own emerging wrinkles. Our culture does not honor our natural aging process. What can she teach me? She gives me 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 teaches me to accept aging gracefully. Accept life with dignity and be thankful for one’s blessings. This is Gracia.  

Teresa

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MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

24”x36” Oil on Canvas
Original $3000
Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $700
(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)
10% Donated for micro loans to women

Teresa is a well-educated school teacher who lived on a farm with her husband. In the middle of the night a group of men, the paramilitary or guerillas connected with the drug trade, entered their home and pointed a gun at her husband. They gave Teresa 30 minutes to gather her things and leave. She was 39, and 2 months pregnant with her first child. She made her way to the shelter for displaced people in Medellin. She has no idea what has happened to her husband.

I met Teresa while visiting my daughter, Alina, who was volunteering at the shelter. I did not want to paint the strange graphic on Teresa’s shirt; a high society woman, walking a ‘designer’ dog, with an image of the playboy bunny logo. But I could not ignore its presence. Ironically, it seemed to symbolize the American party culture that is fueling the drug trade and wreaking havoc on innocent Colombians.

I worry about Teresa and her son’s well being. How do they survive?  

Lana

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Cuzco, Peru

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

30”x30” Oil on Canvas
Original $3000
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 twirling the tool with her hands. They are delicate yet callused and agile. They know the routine. Her young son who sits with her is not happy to be here. He looks at me as I take the photos. He has 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. The location had wonderful stone walls,  precisely engineered. This one had a serpent meandering through it.

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. The llama sits at her side providing the wool and warmth. This is Lana, wool in Spanish.  

Lois

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ENCINITAS, CALIFORNIA

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

18”x36” Oil on Canvas
Original $3000
Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $600
(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)
10% Donated for micro loans to women

I began journaling with Lois when I turned 50, searching for what was next for me as my kids left the nest. I am grateful for her presence in my life. I see her as a songbird with yellow markings - delicate, with a sweet melody, quickly flapping her wings to stay afloat, then gracefully soaring in the sky.  Lois gathers good souls, searching for others’ stories in order to understand her own. She puts her pen to paper to corral her thoughts, her life. In recent years, she’s created magical books with great depth, honesty and creativity. Yes, Lois is an artist of the world. A Relevant Woman!

As a bird, Lois sees the big picture of the world. 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, recovers, regroups and then rejoins the flock once again.

I owe this project of ‘Relevant Women’ to Lois and my beloved journaling group—for listening, encouraging, and reflecting as I searched for my new self,  my own relevance. They believed in me when I did not. They listened to my doubt again and again. Thank you.  

Lolita

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Cuzco, Peru

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

18”x36” Oil on Canvas
Original $3000
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 $3000
Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $600
(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)
10% Donated for micro loans to women

When I met Njeri , she had recently immigrated with two of her children, joining her husband and oldest daughter, in    San Diego. Njeri’s beauty, shyness and my curiosity of her story compelled me to create this portrait.

In this painting Njeri’s hands are strong and large, lovingly holding her face, her spirit. These are working hands. In Kenya, Njeri grew her own food and owned cows for milk.

After many months, 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. When Njeri returned to the U.S., I shared the finished portrait with her. She smiled and laughed and put her hand over her mouth, perhaps a bit embarrassed. Then she proudly showed me her gorgeous crocheted throws and many colorful hats. Not long after, she sold most of her inventory in a show and has repaid her loan. This could be the start of setting up micro loans to help women begin a new business, enabling women to support their lives with their art.  

Marisol

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CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST
18”x36” Oil on Canvas
Original: SOLD
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 around the world began with this Colombian Fruit Lady. The day was the usual hot, steamy and sticky weather of the Caribbean in Cartagena. This luscious fruit seller gave me a great pose, offering the sweet juices of her ripe, exotic fruit. She was enjoying this moment on life’s stage. She lowered her shoulder and gave me a playful smile as if to say, “Yes, remember me”. Her smile beckoned me to paint her and with the encouragement of my daughter, Alina, I did. I love her playful gaze. She brings me such joy and inspiration.

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 $3000
Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $600
(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)
10% Donated for micro loans to women

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.” She speaks without words. She is a bit shy. A heavy fruit bowl is balanced on her head. Yes, life is a balancing act.

“Do not 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 like her quietness. It perhaps reminds me of myself as a young girl.

It takes baby steps to grow.  “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. Is Paciencia only a reflection of myself? Look into her face. What does she reveal to you?  

I Cage the Muse

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WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW - ARTIST

Self Portrait 1997

I had no idea “I Cage the Muse” would turn into the first portrait of my Relevant Women project. This painting 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 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 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.

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 would say to me “Go create – do your art!” Wow, what a GIFT.

As our children grew older, I felt uncomfortable with this painting. I did not want them to feel like they were caging me. I left this painting in the garage until they went off to college. When I brought it back into the house I realized that 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.