Grace Haverty works in pastels to capture the beauty of the world around her. She paints the landscape, the flowers and vegetables from the garden, as well as people from different lands. As she puts it: “The earth provides beauty in everything. The flowers fill the air with their fragrance, the trees provide shade on a hot day, and fruit & vegetables nourish people of all races and colors. For these things and my talents I give credit to God.”
Although pastel is the medium she is working with at this time, Grace always brings pen and ink and watercolors whenever she travels. In this way, she captures the moment in her sketch book and applies a watercolor wash on location. "To me this is so much more exciting than taking photos home to paint from. You are seeing so much more when you draw on the spot - seeing the expressions on the faces of the people from different countries and really looking at how different buildings are in foreign lands. The drawings do not have to be exact, it is the feeling I want to capture,” she says.
Grace's pastels convey to the viewer the excitement she feels in her subjects, As she relates:
When I set up my still lifes of flowers, I try to include objects that are meaningful. "Violin Angel" is special to me in many ways. The sugar bowl and fruit dish have been in our family for generations. The china tea cup and silver knife are used each and every holiday that we share with our family and friends. My daughter Dara gave me the angel playing the violin for Christmas when she started violin lessons in the fourth grade. The rose signifies something extra special. Each time Dara came home for a visit from college a lovely rose was in her room. All of my paintings include objects with special memories. I hope that my emotional attachment to my paintings will give the viewer the feeling of love that went into each piece.
Grace was born in New York and moved to the Midwest twenty-nine years ago. She started painting when her children were toddlers with the encouragement of her husband, Michael. She painted in oils before concentrating on pastels. She and Michael have four children.
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