Painting the Artists of Richmond Ballet:
Working with Company Dancers
Lauren Fagone, Maggie Small, & Thomas Garrett
Hello! I mentioned in the last newsletter my involvement with the Richmond Ballet, the State Ballet of Virginia. I am part of a group of five Richmond painters working with the company to create paintings displayed in the Richmond Ballet Studio Theatre. The group includes artists Beth Marchant, Loryn Brazier, Nancy Mauck, Tom Wise, and myself. We are calling our exhibition Assemblé, and it will be part of Leap Week, a city-wide week long "celebration of all that is Richmond Ballet". Our exhibit will have an opening reception for Richmond Ballet corporate and private donors during Leap Week, as well as an open house viewing open to the general public to be announced. 50% of sales are going to benefit Richmond Ballet.
This newsletter will focus on my work with three of the company dancers, Lauren Fagone, Thomas Garrett, and Maggie Small.
In the Wings: Lauren Fagone of Richmond Ballet
Oil on canvas, 24"x12", 2013
Painting Dancer Lauren Fagone
Company artist Lauren Fagone is originally from Pennsylvania, and received her training in both New York City and Charlotte, North Carolina. After a two year apprenticeship, she is now in her tenth season with the company. Favorite roles include Myrtha in Giselle, the Mistress in Lilac Garden, Carmina Burana, and "anything and everything choreographed by Jessica Lang".
Before I followed Richmond Ballet or had even met Lauren, I used to see her around town, usually in Ukrop's. This must have been when she had first come to Richmond Ballet and was still an apprentice, probably eleven years ago. Noticing this elegant redhead and the way she carried herself, moving through the produce aisle with a gracefulness one seldom sees in a supermarket, I knew she had to be a dancer!
I'm always noticing "paintable" people when I'm out and about, sometimes I even muster the nerve to ask them if they will model for me. Having this opportunity to work with Richmond Ballet gave me the chance to meet Lauren and finally paint her. As you can imagine, she is a terrific model and holds poses beautifully. Plus, it was just plain fun working with her. She has a quick wit and a great sense of humor, and was amused to learn she made an impression a decade ago while shopping for groceries.
We worked together the first week of 2013. Lauren had a rare weekend off from rehearsals, and she was in preparation for Richmond Ballet's performance of Swan Lake. Generously sacrificing some of her weekend, Lauren visited my studio, where I had arranged a theatre-like setting as backdrop for her painting, hanging drapery to imply stage curtains, while lights with theatrical colored gels could evoke stage lighting. By placing Lauren between the sets of curtains, I hope to suggest the dancer waiting in the wings before making an entrance, either while performing or just rehearsing. While watching rehearsals at the Studio Theatre, I had a unique vantage point (usually seated on the floor) of seeing not just the stage action, but also seeing the performers off to the side, waiting and anticipating their dance. Moments like this often caught my attention.
Lauren brought a tu-tu from the costume department, and a duffel-bag full of leotards as options for the pose. We narrowed down the choices, and I began taking dozens of digital photos of various stances. A dancer's life is dedicated to understanding how their body moves through space, so directing Lauren's posing was a breeze. She understood immediately the visual effect achieved by my most simple suggestion, like shifting her weight from one leg to another. Eventually, I painted a quick head-study of Lauren to serve as a reference, supplementing the photographed poses. Within a day of our meeting, having studied the photographs and my painted study, I knew how I wanted to compose my painting.
Painting Dancers Maggie Small & Thomas Garrett
Maggie Small began dancing at The School of Richmond Ballet where she rose through the ranks to become a trainee and an apprentice. She is beginning her seventh season with the Richmond Ballet. Maggie graced the cover of Dance Magazine last September, gaining further national recognition for her talent. She has large eyes, and a warm, sincere smile, and these traits are particularly expressive and engaging on stage.
Thomas Garrett is a native of Jacksonville Beach, Florida, began his training with Dulce Anaya and Laurie Byrd. He joined Richmond Ballet as an apprentice in 2003 and joined the company in 2005. Tommy is tall and lanky and supremely graceful on stage. He is entering his eighth season with Richmond Ballet, and his entrance in the recent Swan Lake was greeted with enthusiastic applause, a testament to the well deserved respect he receives from audiences.
Conversations with company dancers, including Maggie and Tommy, inspired the concept of my next painting. I was interested in how a dancer recuperates after performing or engaging in the rigors of rehearsal. Both circumstances are physically punishing to a dancer's body, and I imagine it can be emotionally draining as well. Every dancer I spoke with referred to using ice packs on a regular basis, and Tommy was particularly forthcoming. In hearing his description of nursing injuries, I began to imagine a painting on this theme. Pictorial possibilities further expanded when I learned that he and Maggie share a life together off-stage as well (they met while training in The School of Richmond Ballet) and I decided upon a domestic situation as a setting for this theme. Maggie had previously spoken of sewing her pointe shoes in the evenings, and this motif coupled with Tommy icing his knee became my compositional idea.
Tommy and Maggie welcomed me into their home for two evenings of working out the composition. This occurred after a busy day of rehearsing, and while I'm sure they must have been tired, they could not have been more gracious. The girl on the cover of Dance Magazine was offering to make me dinner while I set up for taking reference photographs, and both she and Tommy proved to be great models. Maggie took several seated and standing positions with her mending, and Tommy took varied sprawled positions on the sofa with an ice pack on his leg. At one point, I asked him to look up at Maggie as she was sewing. I knew I had my painting when I saw the natural affection in his expression as his gaze fell on Maggie.
On the Mend: Maggie Small & Thomas Garrett of Richmond Ballet, Post-Performance
Oil on canvas, 24"x24" 2013
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