Mission Belle 2022

Terri Kelly Moyers made this portrait, probably in oil paint. It’s a quiet palette, greys and creams for the setting, and the shawl drapes around the woman with the weight of history, and the texture of the material almost makes you want to reach out and touch it. I wonder what Moyers was thinking when she painted this? What kind of exchange was going on between her, the model, and the composition? I think maybe she was trying to figure out what it meant to be an artist. There's a kind of question mark around the woman's face, as if she's not sure if she should be looking back at us. The shadow and light are so delicately rendered and the face is soft and human. It’s all so artfully done. It almost feels like a scene from a movie. I look at this and I feel like I want to know more, but I think that's true of painting in general. It's an invitation to keep asking questions.