Lolita

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.