First Carousel
"First Carousel" by Lesley Spanos. Oil on 6 x 6" Gessobord panel. Copyright ©2009, all rights reserved.
My interest in painting a State Fair series began with this carousel. The colors, the reflections, and the shapes were all a joy to paint, and I can’t wait to paint more.
I like this horse because he isn’t the usual cutesy carved steed. He looks terrified, eyes rolled back and mouth open in a silent, eternal scream. I can hear him. He’s the black horse in a nightmare, and the contrast between him and the cotton candy-colored horse is satisfying to me.
Painting the State Fair
State Fair, USA is artist Lesley Spanos' tribute to the American agricultural fair. "Just about anything I would want to paint can be found at the Fair."
The series is the culmination of years of research. Spanos has photographed and sketched her local fair - the Indiana State Fair - extensively for the past four summers, amassing a large collection of reference material for working in-studio. Ultimately the collection is destined for a book and fine art reproductions. (Read about the project in more depth here.)
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