The Beauty of a Moment

The Shadows on History

I am so excited to have my painting, The Shadows on History, juried into The Watercolor Society of Alabama Annual Members Showcase. This is a first time for me to participate in this organizations. Thank you to juror Anne Hightower Patterson for including it.

So yesterday I took the painting on a road trip to Mobile to leave it at the Mobile Arts Council @1927. The show will be up from October 1 - October 31.

This painting is of a scene I have driven past just about every day of my life. It sits on a main road in my community. But one day it caught my attention enough to turn around, stop, and get out. The shadows on the walls of the white building were cool, beautiful, and calmly moving as the wind blew through the oaks around it.

When I finished the painting I was trying to think of a title, and remembered that the building used to have a historical marker out front. So I investigated the history of the building. The marker was really about the community of Handsboro, Ms. But the building had history on its own. The building is The Polar Star Lodge #154, a Masonic Lodge chartered in Mississippi City and Handsboro in 1852 The original building burned and was rebuilt in 1889. The lower floor was a community center, town hall, and bank. The second floor was used for the Masonic meetings. So all this information is what inspired my title, The Shadows on History.

The building currently is empty and has a "For Sale/Lease" sign in the front. So only time will tell what will happen to it. But I hope the beauty of this building will be preserved in my interpretation of its beauty and place in the history of this community.

Thanks for letting me share,

Cissy