Louisiana Art- Woods and Weather

Spring came last Saturday, March 20, a balmy morning. By Sunday,tiny snow flakes peppered down as we attended church. Back to the 70's Monday afternoon, and today supposed to be 75. I've already walked this Tuesday morning, going through a creek bottom that's on our land,not too far from my house. The beavers damn up the creek occasionally, and turtles plunge off a log as I go by. I'm constantly comparing colors, planning the next painting for my art class. A red-tailed hawk that I see frequently is busy flying among the trees. The hunting must be good here. I feel in my pack to reassure myself that my small pistol is there. Cougars are spotted off and on in our neck of the woods. I nervously look around as birds stir the dry leaves. This morning, among rolling hills, there is the distant blue on far off trees. I understand this is caused from minute bits of moisture filtering the sunlight and splitting the light rays, which in turn alters the spectral colors in the light. I accomplish this in class by painting wet trees into a wet skyline, then adding graduating darks and lights. Time to get ready for my Tuesday class.

The Art Part of The Winds of September Cover

Notice how the sky colors of yellow, pink, blue, and white bounce off the hillside. The dark and light patches on her face give depth and fullness to her features. Dark colors recede, light colors come toward you unless you are painting a landscape, then it works totally backward. A far off field would be light colored growing darker as it comes forward. Notice Judith's dress, the dark part of the ruffle signifies depth, the light blue gives fullness. The light is coming from the right side of her body,(to us looking on, the left) giving fullness to the puffy sleeve.
Her shadow and the dark places at her feet anchor her to the ground. To see this cover art, go to: http://www.bookstandpublishing.com/book_details/The_Winds_of_September

After two weeks of computer trouble and finally buying a new one, I'm ready to begin a combination of writing and art posts. I had painted a front cover for my first book, The Journey, but I decided it was too busy to work well with the title and information on the back cover. The scene was of my grandmother walking uphill from a creek that was nestled in a valley, where the wagon train had stopped for the night, surrounded by pines and cedars. She carried a bucket of water and a shotgun, unaware that a grey wolf on a hillside behind her was making his way down to drink. I studied what I should have left off, and when I finished the manuscript for my next book, I knew what to paint.
On the cover of The Winds of September, Judith Hodge stands in a prairie field with her home, a Texas soddy, in the background. In order to keep her sanity, about once a week, Judith puts on her best dress and goes for a walk by herself. I wanted to capture here the effect of constant prairie winds. Notice how her dress and sash blow backward, and how the tall grass bends in the same direction, the underside dark with highlights on top. I constantly strive for contrast when I paint, and here, the sky color reflects off her arms, and is even picked up in the ground cover. More about Judith in my next post.

The Healing Side of Art

Long before I became a writer, I was, and still am, an artist. At the present time,I teach a weekly oil painting class and have for decades. Years ago,as I walked and checked my students work before mistakes were too far gone to correct, I suddenly realized how many tragic stories were represented in that room. But for these two hours, troubles were put on a back shelf. We laughed, and rejoiced over what I refer to as 'happy accidents'. We introduced ochre grass against gray wind blown skies, falling wooden fence posts, with an old barn in the background that brought back childhood memories of farm work.
If there is enough response to my posts on painting, my plans are to have a small booklet printed with simple starting tips on creating a work of art at home. I'd love to hear from you. My email: (francesbennett7@gmail.com). I'll never forget that magical feeling when I first began to paint and watched as the colors came to life on my canvas. If you've never experienced that, it's hard to explain. Anyone can learn to paint. True enough, some are better at it than others, but it's as unique to each person as their hand writing.
I painted the cover for my latest book, The Winds of September, which is set in the late 1800's, and is a story about homesteading in an Appalachian Valley of Tennessee. In my next post, I'll explain some steps involved in creating this image. View it at www.bookstandpublishing.com/book_details/The_Winds_of_September.

Frances Bennett, Southern Americana Writer

I'm updating this post on February 27, 2012.
My historical fiction novel, The Journey, is followed by The Winds of September, the first of a four book series that is set in the 1800's, and tell a continous story of two Christian families who worked and fought to survive and raise a family in a wilderness. My second in this Winds series, The Winds of Time, is now published and ready for purchasing. For a signed copy, send $23.00 to:
Frances Bennett
1359 Hwy. 3121
Spearsville, La 7127
Order from the ecommerce page:
http://www.bookstandpublishing.com/book_details/The_Winds_of_September
http://www.bookstandpublishing.com/book_details/The_Winds_of_Time
Also on Amazon with The Journey.

Correct Email address.

My email address on the link to Bookstand Publishing, fbennett@bayou.com cannot be changed yet and is incorrect. Email me at: francesbennett7@gmail.com. Thanks.

The Winds of September

Frances Bennett will speak about her new book, The Winds of September, for the Entre Nos book club of Farmerville, Louisiana on August 14,2009. Read below the book cover description. Order from Bookstand Publishing or Frances Bennett, 1359 Hwy. 3121, Spearsville, Louisiana 71277. Send a check or money order in the amount of $23.00


A heart-felt work of pioneer storytelling, The Winds of September begins midsummer, 1869, when Jim and Judith Hodge decide they finally have enough savings to take their three children and leave the shipyards of Boston to head for Texas and fulfill their dream to homestead. Living in a sod house for three years and being terrified that rattlers would crawl inside to escape the prairie heat is more than Judith bargained for. When Jim realizes how miserable she is, he sells the cows and they leave for an Appalachian Valley in Tennessee where his two brothers have settled.
They cross the Mississippi at Vicksburg, and join a small wagon train going into Tennessee. Jacob and Dorothy Hill are part of this wagon train and decide to settle close to Jim and Judith. Through the pages of The Winds of September, the reader is there as these families carve a living from the wilderness. They love, laugh, and cry as they live among wild animals and face each day determined to survive and bring civilization to their valley.