If you're examining one of artist Judy Falkoff's oil paint renderings of flowers, she may ask you a simple question: Can you smell the flower?
If you can, she'll be happy with the painting and its power to evoke the natural world. Falkoff, a Magnolia, Ark., artist and Louisiana native, has such flowers and more on display now at the Regional Arts Center for an art exhibition, Light and Color: The Crescendo of Nature.
Art exhibits are the fruition of a love for art that was inspired way back in 4th grade when a regular school teacher, not an art teacher, had students work on a mural at the back wall of a classroom. The teacher ordered pastels for the work, and for young Judy, it was time to fall in love with the colors and feel of art.
"I never forgot that feeling," Falkoff said.
As she grew up, she dabbled in art, "crafty more so than anything else," as she admits. Then, while she was raising her children in the late 1980s and early '90s, she had more time to devote to art. One of the transformative developments was studying under artist Jeff Legg, a still-life artist.
"He is one of the living masters," Falkoff said of a painter named a Master Artist by the National Oil Painters of America.
With her own art, she does have a favorite subject, something she found in her large yard.
"What dominates my art probably is the flowers," Falkoff said. They look exquisite in her paintings, and in her work the light catches these flowers and goes deep into them, she says. People have suggested her flowers remind them of Georgia O'Keefe, a comment she appreciates.
But other subjects are fertile territory for her, too. "People bring me insects, they bring me pieces of wood, they bring me rocks," Falkoff said. She enjoys having these sorts of things around her. She's collected insects and butterflies; to her, they're individualized like humans with a certain structure.
"I like to try different things," Falkoff said.
As an artist, she's pretty much self-taught. Her professional career took her to paths different than the arts as a nursing home administrator.
"I never did study art. My brother studied art, I studied other things " she said of formal education. With Ferriday, La., as her hometown, she later grew up in the Shreveport area and also studied in Scotland, too, later attending college in her home state and Arkansas.
As someone striving to be self-taught, Falkoff knew the type of paintings she wanted to create and knew it would be difficult. She set out to teach herself a Flemish technique of painting that employs layers of glaze and oil. Armed with books and paint, though, she could teach herself.
"It's worked well for me," Falkoff said of the process. Spanish artists, in particular, served as an inspiration to her. Her art also helped her through a difficult time of illness about 13 years ago.
And when it comes to learning, it's something we all do continuously. As an artist, she's aware of this reality. "You never stop learning when you're an artist," she says.
This exhibition will be displayed through Nov. 5. Get down to the RAC if you'd like your senses to come alive though beautiful oil paintings.
"I appreciate the opportunity to have it there. It's a beautiful building, knowledgeable staff. I'm anxious to have people see my work in that corner of Texas," Falkoff said.
(Admission is free. The Regional Arts Center is located at 321 W. 4th St. in Texarkana, Texas. More info: 903-792-8681 or TRAHC.org.)