Little Rock, Arkansas
In my paintings, I like to play with contradictions to convey the sense of mystery and promise I feel when I walk the streets of my hometown or travel Arkansas roads. I exploit contrasts: warm and cool colors, wet and dry watercolor techniques, the architectural line against the fluidity of nature. I look for the mysterious within the familiar, and I want viewers to feel it, too. I have a strong sense of place, and I want viewers to experience the places I depict with all their senses. I want them to hear the cicadas or the tires on wet pavement. I want them to feel the night breeze and smell the damp earth. When painting, I have retained one technique from childhood. Sitting at the kitchen table drawing airplanes, I made the roar and whine of the planes as they appeared on the paper. Today, when the river of blue paint flows across the paper, I find myself making the swish-wish sound of wind in the trees. A poet once told me that when she looked at the buildings in my paintings, she knew there were people inside. I really liked that comment, because that is what I try to do, to give the feeling of the life inside today, tomorrow, or in the past. William Mayes Flanagan 
