Barbera Lavallee

            Many people picture great artists as brooding depressed people, shut away from the world in their studio, or out alone in nature painting. It is true of course that the world of art has had its fair share of such depressed artists, but Barbara Lavallee is not one of them, an active and as she puts it “extremely happy person” the art Barbara Lavallee creates is vividly stunning depicting scenes of everyday life in a close knit world few of us will ever get to experience. Despite the uniqueness of such experience or perhaps because of them Barbara Lavallee’s resonates with views, stirring the most primal of emotions of love, happiness, and the peace that comes from being part of a community. In “Hot Tub Virgins” we see how wonderfully Barbara Lavallee’s handles middle aged women, with rounded forms that make them seem so happy so real despite the fact that her pictures are so graphical.

            This approachability of her characters, their depicted flaws turned into a graphical beauty are what lends the truly primeval feel to Lavallee’s art, a feel which allows her pictures such as Berry Bounty to resonate with people who though they may not have the opportunity to harvest the bounty of the land, or may only harvest what is farmed still have a hundred thousand years of human history as gatherers of food rather then as creators of it. It is the depiction of a people caught between the world of gathering and tradition and the modern in a style that is modern yet influenced strongly by an ancient art that makes Lavallee’s pictures so provocative.

            This depiction of the new and the old is shown strongly in the painting “Coffee Klatch” in which a group of women sit around a table drinking coffee. Such a simple act yet beautiful and emotional, especially as painted by Lavallee’s of the world in which she lives. One can’t help but notice that the women in the picture where somewhat traditional dresses heavily patterned, so much so that they are pushed into basic shape elements, with a wood stove, yet still a can of coffee something that did not exist in the memory of some of the people who still live in the land depicted.

            Such changes however are relatively minor, yet still meaningful as what is emotionally provocative for us changes over time. This is as true in our society as it is in that depicted, indeed such changes are occurring so fast that both us and all cultures around the world are being overwhelmed and fatigued by them. By showing another community, another culture experiencing the rapid changes not as an individual but as a strong social unit, as an emotional group, we are able to see that we are not alone in the changes, that these changes can bind us together, and to the world. It is comforting in a way to think of this, not only are not alone, but we in fact given support and a potential for emotional fulfillment in each other and the changes we experience together.