A Gentle Kindness - A Letter From Hope, oil on 18in round wood board, 20in sq frame, signed on the back, 2024
To inquire for purchase please email info@sarahdupreecreative.com
$500
Price includes: Framed Original Artwork, Certificate of Authentication, Sarah Dupree Creative Postcard, and shipping can be added.
Prints will be available soon.
The painting draws inspiration from two sources - the iconic lamppost in The Chronicles of Narnia and the museum's own The Christmas Letter, which shares the same pose. Visually, it becomes a collage of my favorite Christmas memories: wandering the Quarter with my sisters, traveling to the mountains to see snow for the first time, and visiting the Norton each year to take in the holiday decorations.
Woven together, these influences create a story that echoes the magic of Narnia - A moment of discovering something wondrous, like a hidden statue that promises adventure, comfort, and hope.
Photos Provided by the R.W. Norton Art Gallery and Photographer Clearly Grace
The Background
In truth, my trip to the mountains happened around New Years, but the air still held the Christmas spirit. This trip was my first time seeing snow, I was also a budding photographer, so I have tons of Tumblr-esque pictures that I never did much with. This photo was taken right outside our cabin and probably late in the evening, I imagine we were just about to head to dinner, we likely played a game of dominos or cards after. That was one of my favorite trips.
The Statue
The fountain in the painting is of this statue in New Orleans located in Latrobe Park. I just recently captured this photo, but it reminded me of the time one of my sisters eloped to New Orleans and got married in Jackson Square. It was just around Christmas too, so the lights were were at their most beautiful. We sorta went with her, and just had a small dinner and second line, but it was one of my first experiences in the Crescent City.
When I was was first looking at this picture, preparing to place it in a painting composition, I felt the statue visually compared to the lamppost in The Chronicles of Narnia, which then led me to thinking about the Christmas themed artwork in the R.W. Norton Art Gallery, whose holiday show I was hoping to be featured in. I had worked as an intern there in my first few years of college, and knew the collection well. I always thought that the painting titled "The Christmas Letter" also compared to the Narnia Lamppost. The lamppost in the books and the movie was simply a marker of the new world they were entering. However, it always signified a coming of hope in my eyes; using the all my visual mapping, I combined various elements from each picture described above and composed "A Gentle Kindness - A Letter From Hope."
You can check out the process on my TikTok
@sarah_thatgirlthatpaints