Born and raised in the Southwest
, Teena DeSpain has always had great passion for her work. Self
taught, Despain believes that her art has always had a strong
spriritual side. Early in her career as a successful southwest
artist, painting portraits of Indian children, she has always
tried to touch the essence of the souls of her subjects. Viewers
of her work often comment that they can feel the spirit, the energy
and life of the child that she has captured in oils.
I always start with the eyes, DeSpain says, as
I truly believe that they are the essence of the soul, and then
the expression of the face. "If I cannot capture those to
my satisfaction, then the painting is useless and is tossed aside."
Viewers often comment on the eyes and the expressions in the faces
of the children, to DeSpain's delight as that to her is the most
important part of her painting.
One of the trademarks of DeSpain's work, are the
raised beadwork in the costumes of the children. She developed
this technique many years ago. Viewers of her work want to reach
out and touch beadwork, thinking that they are actual beads sewn
to the surface of the canvas. People have told her that artists
have tried to copy her technique of raised bead work, she said,
"Imitation is indeed the most sincere form of flattery"
and is not concernced with who developed this, saying "perhaps
I even plucked it out of the universal consciousness", where
she believes much of her inspiration comes from along with the
actual spiritual presence of her subjects.
Saying of her years of goint to Indian reservations
and Pow Wows to take the precious photographs of children that
she paints from, " I loved being there, I loved the experience.
I felt as though I was helping preserve a culture that was quickly
fading, however, I always felt as though I was always an outsider
looking in, painting from my outside in." . She tries to preserve and portray this amazing
delicate culture in the eyes of its children.
In Despain's fantasy paintings, she comes from
a completely different perspective. Of her fairy and angel paintings
she says, "I paint from the inside out. This is the beauty
I feel, see and know and want to show to others. I try to paint
what I see, that which comes from deep inside of me."
She loves old world mythology and her painting
"Stolen Child" is based on the WB Yeat's poem, "Stolen
Child."
With all the new technologies and methods of art,
DeSpain believes in sticking exclusively to the age old medium
of oil paints. "There is nothing like the smell of oils in
my studio as I attemp to create magic, within the simplicity of
oils." Also she said of her work, "I would rather paint
one great masterpiece, that will one day be known to the world,
than a group of little nothing paintings, for the sake of producing."
Also, "I do not paint for money but for love. Some paint
to live, I live to paint."
Because of the time consuming process of painting
in many layers of multiple glazes that give the luminescence of
a stained glass window, her paintings take a very long time to
paint, sometimes years. Originals seldom come up for sale. However,
with the growing technology of a good reproductions many can be
offered in the form of Glicee'.
DeSpain is also a very competent Photographer
and Potter, loves the natural world, and is very involved in taking
care of our planet earth, who she believes has a spirit and consciousness
of its own.
