Artist of the Month
Dorethy Hancock
Artist of the Month, August 2010
I may be a relative newcomer to the genre of painting, yet art has always been part of who I am. Music was my first love, and now I find myself wanting to feast on other kinds of food for my soul. Making jewelry was my passion for a few years, and, who knows?—I may return to it one day. My most intense artistic endeavor was building a cob cottage: literally, a hand-sculpted house—which has given me a lot of satisfaction, not only from an environmental aspect, but from the fact that it lent itself to my expression of cosmic symbolism, with the creation of bas reliefs on the inside and outside walls of the building.
After all the hard work of building, I needed to play. Finding myself at the age where I could audit classes at Washburn University, I dove headlong into oil painting and drawing, and I love it! Expanding my talents in those directions really got me zinged! I plan to continue this fall. Through the years as a member of T.A.G., I have admired the art of other local artists such as Shirley Akers, Ellen Duncan, Johanna Hanks, Phyllis Cory, Carol Hollis, Ruth Powers—all for different reasons. Mostly, I am inspired by music, color, nature and foreign travel; and, while I appreciate the “finer” things of life, I love sharing stories with the common man in all countries and cultures of the earth. Everyone is talented—we each have our own way, and isn’t that wonderful? I take total pleasure in moving to the beat of my own inner drummer.
My favorite quote is from Will Rogers, a “home boy” who came from my old stompin’ grounds in Oklahoma: “Why NOT go out on a limb?—That’s where all the fruit are!”
