Nicaraguan-born painter Lola Stanton is known for her fantastic florals, still life paintings, and portraits—and she infuses all of them with themes and elements that express her Latina heritage.
In her recent series of portraits entitled “Latino Youth,” for example, Lola used the gorgeous architecture and scenery of Central America to frame her subjects and create a unique visual story for each one. She also incorporated a blackbird into each portrait.
“I used the bird as a symbol,” she explains on her website, “a kind of spirit guide to help [them] find themselves and succeed.”
Take a look at just a few of her fantastic paintings below:
Kassandra captures a perfect likeness of a young woman wearing a red and floral-print dress, releasing a blackbird into the air. Behind her, a decorative green railing and rolling lawn fade into the distant forest.
Rachel, below, is a double-portrait, with the blackbird appearing only in the mirror.
(Interestingly, in the painting above the architecture is primarily implied through the use of shadow and light playing across the wall in even squares.)
And last but certainly not least is Travis Stanton below. Every aspect of this painting is beautifully rendered, from the glossy blue-black feathers on the back of the bird to the pattern of red and pink square mosaic tiles covering the floor—not to mention the incredibly-realistic painting of the young man himself.
If you’d like to see more of Lola’s gorgeous paintings, including her vibrant florals and (seriously mouth-watering) still lifes of breakfast pastries and desserts, make sure to visit her website at www.lolastantonart.com.
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