southern charms (southern magnolia) - original oil painting

southern charms (southern magnolia)
38” x 58”
oil & oil pastel on canvas
2022

*** this is an original oil painting ***
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please email with any questions - clairegodbeeart@gmail.com

“I’ve always been infatuated with nature: collecting rocks, planting, picking and arranging flowers, keeping the wings of a butterfly, the body of a cicada. I find myself considering my relation to them— often their cycles, their beauty, life, purpose and death, their seemingly effortless regeneration. I like to think of them as charms and how in their own way they are protectors and teachers— good luck charms.

The massive Southern Magnolia tree and her rich, red seeds and resilient white, flowers, the tiny busy bee or mysterious moth with their pollinating powers, the delight and color of flowers, the magic and fleeting beauty of butterflies...

This painting juxtaposes the characteristics and stages of the Southern Magnolia seed and flower to womanhood and the female form. It is reminiscent of my childhood summers, spent in Alabama and Georgia, climbing the branches of magnolia trees, chasing butterflies, sunburns, popsicles stains and the lingering scent of gardenias. The painting is meant to feel like a scrapbook page of memories, with charms and textures of summer. It is my intention for the cropped female form to provide a “mother nature” presence in the work, highlighting the power that women hold to nurture and grow, especially during a time when bodily autonomy and reproductive rights are being stripped away.

The female form, paired with the various stages of the Southern Magnolia, symbolizes the versatility of women and our ability to seamlessly go through cycles, parallel with nature– our eagerness to grow and achieve, just as the Southern Magnolia grows to enormous heights. The color red is symbolic of courage, passion, love and joy, but also fire, anger and action, representing feminism, gender equality and the right to autonomy over our bodies, the power and agency to make choices without fear of violence or having someone else decide. The painting represents freedom, a collective liberation, for all women and the nature that surrounds and grounds us. May we be as sovereign as the Southern Magnolia tree.”