Lauren and William, First Dance

Lauren and William’s first dance was originally planned to be under the light-wrapped trees for their October wedding reception at Carillon Beach in Panama City Beach. With the threat of rain, the coordinator went to Plan B and set up the dance floor and the band under a tent in front of the trees. But I still wanted to give the sense of being under the trees, so my challenge was merging the two different lighting – the dance floor with the beautiful pink, lavender and blue stage lighting dominating, and the golden lights on the wrapped trees. This painting involved a lot of on-the-scene recomposing, so this party got to see some of the behind the scenes “broken egg” stage of my work, the part I like to keep hidden in my head! I actually painted and wiped out the trees several times while working out how to merge the two scenes. Event Coordinator: Megan K. Events.

Lauren and William Study 10 x 8 (second photo)
Studies produced throughout an event help me retain my own feelings while immersed in the event. They often are quite impressionistic, like this capture of Lauren and William’s exuberance after they were first presented as Mr. and Mrs.

20 x 24, oils on canvas