THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 20, 1994 TAG: 9410190172
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
GRACE PIERCE CONCENTRATES on doing portraits, but what happens when she shifts gears?
She wins Best in Show at the recent Virginia State Fair.
``I wanted to do something different, so a painting I did of an old pair of tennis shoes, each with a human face, won Best in Show,'' she said.
The ``portrait'' is untitled and has no mysterious meaning, she said. ``It was just for fun.
``You ought to see a tree I drew once. You wouldn't recognize it. I can't do landscapes - too much detail. It gets confusing. With portraits - if you have a wrinkle, I'll put it in. If you have a mole, I'll put it in.''
She has been involved with faces - moles, wrinkles and all - for 12 years.
The 81-year-old artist - the mother of two, grandmother of six and great-grandmother of two - lives in a geodesic home about five miles north of Windsor.
She began painting because of Alexander Graham Bell, in a way.
``I always doodled. I'd pick up a pencil while I was on the phone and draw faces. My hubby would put an envelope in front of me. Later, it would be filled with drawings.''
Almost everybody doodles, but Pierce graduated from Doodling 1 to Painting 1.
``I didn't even know I could paint until my sister-in-law brought me to Frances Beamon's class,'' she said, referring to a Suffolk Art League instructor. ``I've been with her ever since. In class we do our own thing.''
Pierce also spends a fair amount of time at home on her hobby - her lone hobby, she said.
``I spend a lot of time, but I take my time. I want to get to know the person before I begin painting her.''
In 1984, she got to know the ins and outs of the state fair, entering some of her works and winding up with some blue ribbons, a story repeated every year since.
Ten years later, Pierce wound up with her Best in Show.
She does not actively try to sell her works but has done so on occasion, beginning a decade ago with $25 for a portrait of a little girl dressed like mommy - painted from a photo she saw in The Sun.
``Now I get up to $200.''
Her current effort, though, is a labor of love: three paintings of three Waynesboro great-nephews. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Artist Grace Pierce's just-for-fun painting of tennis shoes with a
human face won Best in Show at the Virginia State Fair.
by CNB