Tag Archives: Bennett Valley

Dancing in the Moonlight

As I have mentioned, when I was growing up my family lived deep in a very rural area of northern California called Bennett Valley. During my first and second grades I attended Bennett Valley School which was built in 1878. As I recall, there were about 12 of us who attended this one-room school house. It was on a beautiful wooded hill, not far from the road and those two years of school were probably some of the most significant years of my life.

AnnHartMarquis-Dancingin the Moonlight

Dancing in the Moonlight, acrylic on canvas, 20×24-inches. 2011. ©Ann Hart Marquis, sold.

The reason those years were so memorable was due to our teacher, Mrs. Margaret Perez. She handled all of us in six grades with ease. We sat at tables, I don’t remember desks. I also don’t remember her ever raising her voice except for the time the snake got loose. She was refined and gentle. Mrs. Perez had a gift. Although we were country children, she treated us as if she were teaching in San Francisco.

It was she who first introduced me to classical music, and I loved it immediately. She took us  to see the classic ballet movie Red Shoes. I of course then wanted to be a ballerina. Ballet lessons were not an option for me for several reasons. I remember vividly, however, that she let me dance in front of the class. I was wearing a brown checked dress and brown oxford shoes. I did my best Isadora Duncan although I had never heard of Isadora Duncan. I was very shy, but when I danced, the world went away. Mrs. Perez added depth to my life and opened windows that I never knew existed.

Annhartmarquis-Dancing in the Sunlight

Dancing in the Sunlight, acrylic on canvas, 14×14-inches, 2014. ©Ann Hart Marquis, sold.

To this day dance has been one of my passions and I have carried it over into several of my paintings. Dancing in the Moonlight (top) is my first “dance” painting. Dancing in the Sunlight  (above) is the second. My last is Waltz (below).

AnnHartMarquis-Waltz

Waltz, acrylic on canvas, 24×36-inches, 2012. ©Ann Hart Marqus

Thank you Mrs. Margaret Perez. I have thought of you often.

Has there been a special teacher in your life?

Waltz is currently available.  If you have questions or want to purchase it, please contact me. It is 36x24x1.5-inches, acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas with sides painted to continue the scene for a finished look. The price is $675 plus shipping.

Contact me if you live outside the continental USA for additional shipping charges.

My Portuguese Father in Northern California

Kim Bruce was the topic of my last three posts. During the process of having someone ask her questions about her art and business, she was reminded of her father’s influence on her life and her art. Her post  touched me and I now want to write about my father’s influence on my love of nature and how it relates to my love of painting the natural world.

My father was 100% Portuguese. His mother Mary, along with his grandmother Reza, came to the United States in 1901 from the Azore Islands. They did not stop on the east coast but went directly to family in San Francisco. A husband was imported from Lisbon for Mary when the time was appropriate and the couple moved to Sonoma County, California.

 

Wilbur Joseph Hart

Wilbur Joseph Hart

 

My father was the first of 10 children. He had little money but he had a strong work ethic and a love of a certain piece of land in Bennett Valley, about 20 miles from where he grew up. There he built our house and there I grew up. Here is what the valley looks like even now.

annhartmarquis,Bennett Peak, photo ©Tim Anderson, 2013

Bennett Peak, photo ©2013, Tim Anderson,

 

 

I was surrounded by the splendor of the natural environment and I loved gazing at Bennett Peak, which looked so majestic to me as a child. I could always see it when I wandered from home.

In other words, I grew up in one of the loveliest areas of the country because my father loved visiting San Francisco, but he wanted to live in Bennett Valley.

Sonoma County looks a like rural France, which may be one reason that I love to paint the countryside of southern France. Here is a painting that I did in Sorèze, France that reminds me of home.

annhartmarquis-cuttingday

Cutting Day, acrylic on canvas, 16″x20″, ©2009, Ann Hart Marquis

 

It is interesting to think about how an individual’s personal history affects their identity, behaviors, and actions. My history in Bennett Valley contributed to help make me an artist.

How about you?

ann hart marquis, cutting day

L’Ariège, acrylic on linen, 18″x14″, ©2007, Ann Hart Marquis