"Amber"

Part 1 of 2
For some time, my husband and I have been wanting to have a family portrait painted. I happened to be in Merrill-Jennings Gallery dropping off some framing work when I saw this magnificent portrait of “Amber.” Amber was large and reminded me of the lush portraits by John Singer Sargent. One of the staff at the gallery was happy to hand me a binder with the information on Davidson artist Dee Beard Dean. (Dean also has a studio in Charleston)

I encouraged my husband to stop and take a look at “Amber” when we retrieved our completed framing. When he saw the painting, he quickly had me set up an appointment to visit Ms. Dean at her studio. When we went to her home in the St. Alban’s neighborhood, we were both impressed by the elegantly designed home and the massive studio that lay beneath. (I’ll cover her home and studio next week in this column.)

Dee Beard Dean

Ms. Dean is known for her commissioned oil portraits and her plein-air landscapes. In addition, she paints as she travels the world, telling stories of great beauty and despair. Ms. Dean’s works are in galleries and museums across the United States.

Her studio had many portraits to review. Some of my favorites included pictures of her family. My hands down favorite was a picture of her mother, Ailene. (Middle painting below.) Gorgeous!

In addition, I liked a portrait of her husband in “The Violinist. I could almost hear the music! (Left painting below)

I could go on posting painting after painting, but I did want to include a current commission called “Last Light in The Rose Garden.” (At right, below)

Ms. Dean just published a great retrospective of her work in “Dee Beard Dean: A Painter By Providence.” If you order it from her website at deebearddean.com she said she be happy to sign in for you! We are hoping to start having Ms. Dean paint our portrait late this year or early next year. I’ll be sure to keep readers up to date on the process as it unfolds.

See Part 2 of this 2-part series, CLICK HERE>

Art Around Town,” by Lisa Jewel, appears Fridays on DavidsonNews.net’s Guide page. Lisa is keeping a sort of “visual journal” of interesting objects she finds in the area. Some are items for sale at local galleries, others prized possessions in our homes. Have an object to share? Email Lisa, lskjewel@aol.com. See her previous columns in the Art Around Town category