Belly Dancer 2013

Nelson Shanks made this painting, Belly Dancer, with oils on canvas. The colour palette is muted and dusky, and I can imagine the dance of the painter's hand as he coaxed this scene into being. I love how the light falls across the dancer's body, highlighting the texture of her costume and the movement of her pose. You can almost hear the clinking of the coins on her belt as she sways. Shanks was working here with an old master's eye. I can almost feel him willing the dancer into existence, dab by dab, layer upon layer. I think of other painters, like Degas, so invested in how the body moves through a space. How wonderful that artists can inspire each other across time and space, joining an ongoing conversation about bodies, light, and the magic of paint!