Lifestyle

Hill Country Artist: Georgiana Chenault Romances the Stone

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Tony Maples Photography

 

Georgiana Chenault shows off a prairie falcon painted on a 3/8 inch thick slab of limestone. She painted her first portrait at the age of nine, of her father, and continued painting portraits for many years until she came to a point in her life when she realized that art was her gift. A significant part of Georgiana’s story is that she was a bilingual fellow (in Spanish) at Texas A&M and ultimately earned a PhD in Industrial Training. She lived in Chile for a few years, further refining her interests in art and horses. A few years ago she spent a week painting with another artist in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and had another revelation: she wanted to paint animals on slabs of stone.

Minotaur

Georgiana Chenault Longhorn painted on limestone

Photo: Georgiana Chenault

Georgiana saw the bull in this rock before she painted on this slab of Peruvian limestone. She uses oil, alcohol ink, calligraphy ink, and says “What I remove is as expressive as what I leave. Painting on stone is a conversation you are having with the stone. Sometimes they yell!” This piece, which has been sold, is a “wedding of the organic surfaces with an industrial, contemporary aesthetic.”  Think “cave art meets technology.

A Rescued Red Tailed Hawk is Released

Georgiana explains how the bird was already in the stone

Photo: Robert C Deming

This painting came from a scene she witnessed – the release of a rehabilitated red-tailed hawk by Austin Area Wildlife Rehab president Ed Sones, in which the bird was trying to bite him through protective gloves as he prepared to release her back into the wild. In this photo, Georgiana is pointing to the places in the stone which already contained the images and colors she would paint the bird into. Some of the paintings come from photos she has taken; others are given to her by a wildlife photographer. This painting is hanging in Artisans-A Texas Gallery in Fredericksburg.

Arabian Foal on Limestone

Georgiana - Foal painted on limestone

Photo: Georgiana Chenault

Georgiana thinks this large piece with a rendition of an Arabian colt would look great built into the wall of an outdoor kitchen. Her connection with horses is strong. For many years she rode in cutting horse competitions.

Skinny Cow

Georgiana - Skinny Cow

Photo: Georgiana Chenault

In addition to painting horses and cows and birds, Georgiana has painted subjects as diverse as an armadillo and a buffalo. Some of the larger paintings are intended to be built into a wall. This “Skinny Cow” was already partly in the stone when she started painting.

Pasture Buddies

Pasture Buddies

Photo: Georgiana Chenault

This painting of two mares in New Mexico is 65 inches long and would look great placed over a fireplace mantel! Georgiana has a current show at Linda Allen’s Fine Foods in her hometown of Wimberley, and in April is in a joint exhibition in the Old Bakery and Emporium in Austin.