Covered one 2021

Lanise Howard’s ‘Covered one’—it feels as though it came into being stroke by stroke, a slow dance of intuition, a gentle pushing and pulling across the canvas. I imagine Howard starting with that luscious green backdrop. What shade of green was it at first? How many times did she adjust it to get it just so, this luminous plane that sets off the sitter? What thoughts might have run through her mind? Did she layer the paint thinly, allowing the colors to breathe? Or did she work the surface more, in a dance of color and feeling? The painting seems to invite contemplation and the surface, smooth as glass, seems to reflect this mood. The gentle curve of the lotus flowers echoes the swell of the sitter’s cheek. There’s such an ease to this piece. And I always think, in the end, we're all drawing on the same wellspring of inspiration.