The Writer and the Artist, Mary Montague Sikes
Farrah Ferand,
the heroine of my latest novel, Evening
of the Dragonfly, is attempting to recover from the tragic death of her
mother as well as the sudden death of her grandfather that traumatized her years
earlier. A teacher and an artist who lives in Jefferson City (the same small
town in Virginia that was the setting for Daddy's
Christmas Angel), Farrah has been invited to have a one-person exhibition
of her paintings.
Since I am an
artist as well as a writer, I decided to create a show of artwork for Farrah.
As I painted, I realized she was working through her troubled emotions in the
art she made. For me, creating this work brings a great deal of depth and
meaning to Farrah's exhibition that is a major part of the plot of this book.
During the
month of April, I participated in the A to Z Blogging Challenge and made a
painting, or a portion of a painting, for my post each day on my blog, Notes Along the Way. In the end, I had
19 paintings for her show. That work is now on view at Crossroads Art Center in
Richmond VA. On September 15, I will hang the show as the one-person
invitational exhibition for Arts Alive in West Point VA. On September 19, there
will be an opening reception and book signing prior to the evening theatre production.
It's exciting
to have an art show for the heroine of my book. More than other characters in
my books, Farrah has come alive in a vivid way. I can "see" her
standing at a table in her studio making art the same way that I do. I can
truly imagine her excitement as she hangs the show in an art gallery in
Richmond. I can "see" the gallery that actually existed in the 1980s the
time in which the story in this book is set.
Besides being a
mystery, Evening of the Dragonfly is
also a romance with a satisfying ending.
http://tinyurl.com/kvu8ovm Evening of the
Dragonfly
http://tinyurl.com/6qlofd3 Amazon page
link
Mary
Montague Sikes, Bio:
Mary Montague
Sikes has never decided whether she is a writer or an artist. She is happiest
when she can be both. That's why she loved writing Evening of the Dragonfly and eventually painting art for it. While
at the University of Mary Washington, she had her first experience with novel
writing when she typed a handwritten manuscript for the head of the English
Department. She studied painting and sculpture at the College of William and
Mary and earned a MFA in painting from Virginia Commonwealth University. Author
of eight novels, numerous non-fiction books and stories, and hundreds of
published feature articles, she lives with her husband in a small Virginia town
that is a lot like the Jefferson City in her books.
Comments
Thanks for featuring her, Marilyn!
PS: I just read a story about a mystery reader who worked through a stack of audio mysteries why she prepared for a marathon. She would listen ONLY when she was training. She said it really encouraged her to do it often, because she wanted to know "what happened next." (She came in way ahead of her personal expectations.)
Writers and readers combining what they are good at or like (or desire) to do is amazing to me. Now, if I could just think up something for my own reading/writing. :-) Jackie
Jackie, this was a fun production, and it was amazing how much I learned about Farrah and her thought development and character growth as I painted.
Nancy, thank you. So true!