Today, she is a member of several art organizations but is most proud of her affiliation with Palette Pals, a local group of artists who meet each Wednesday at the Thomaston Civic Center in the Arts and Craft room from 9:00 A.M. until noon. She is also proud to have served on the board of directors of Thomaston Upson Arts Council as the visual arts chair and is a showing member of The Glynn Arts Association at St. Simons Island, Georgia, and several other arts organizations such as the Southeast Pastel Society, International Plein Air Painters, Southern Ladies Art Conference and Plein Air Florida.
Recently she has discovered painting en plein air, which is a term used to describe painting in the open air. In 2000 she followed her dream to be able to paint in Monet's garden in Giverny, France. "That trip opened up a whole new way of thinking about painting and my work", she says reverently as she talks about the trip inspiration. "It was as if one could actually feel the presence of Monet and his friends as they walked the gardens and painted. I was in awe of God's master plan to connect artists from the past to those in the present with such strong emotional inspiration."
In 2000 she took inspiration from her travels abroad and connected with fellow artist Carly Clements and Deb Carroll to be able to travel together and paint in Georgia and Florida. Shortly thereafter, the group began to travel to other southern states to paint and at the same time continued to add to their network of art friends that also love to paint in the open air. Soon the network was large enough to form a real organizatioIn the summer of 2002, the group officially named themselves the "Southern Ladies Art Conference" (SLAC), and in September of that same year they met on St. Simons Island, Georgia, and enjoyed their first painting event using their official name.
Over the last two years there have been many gatherings and successful paint-outs. This early spring Phyllis and one other member, Carly Clements from Snellville, Georgia painted the vista of blooming Peach trees on Hwy 74 East and made plans for the 2003 semi-annual SLAC event to be held at Pine Mountain, Callaway Gardens. The semi-annual event encourages all of the members of SLAC to gather at least twice a year in the same location. Other times during the year the members meet in twos and threes for mini retreats and on-location painting, but the semi-annual events are the glue that keeps the group together.
May 8-15, 2003, members of The Southern Ladies Art Conference came to stay in the Thomaston, Georgia home of Phyllis Franklin, which she calls Blackberry Ridge. Each day they traveled to Callaway Gardens or the surrounding area to paint and enjoy each otherâs company. When someone would stop by and ask why there were so many artists painting at Callaway, SLAC members quickly told them they were part of the Southern Ladies Art Conference, a group of very talented professional plein air painters who travel together throughout the South seeking the very best places to capture on canvas or paper the beauty found in each location. Most of the time that was enough, but the younger group always added something like "you sure do paint pretty, I want to grow up to be an artist just like you." Phyllis adds, "That's exactly what it's all about, passing on the love of art and the passion to create art is such a joy."
At night SLAC members would all come back to Blackberry Ridge for dinner ("Southern style") as members of the local art group (Palette Pals) and Phyllisâ mother (Ruth Russell), and Aunt, (Martha Lavern Davis) provided luscious food. Bea Dallas, Mary Wagner, and Johnnie Gaskill went out of their way to make sure all the food was beyond excellent and even left recipes for the group to enjoy, some of which were inspired by recipes from fellow Palette Pal members: Mary Ann McCrary, Ann Lu Blevins, Brenda Pitts and Robert Smit
After dinner it was time to sit down with a glass of wine and share the dayâs work painted by each artist for peer critique. Valuable information shared back and forth within the group encouraged and inspired each member to continue to grow her individual art career. Areas needing improvement were discussed as well as questions from the artist about technique and related plein air painting problems. Getting a ãfresh eyeä helped each artist decide if they needed to do anything further the following day to complete the work en plein air.
Since all of the members of SLAC are professional artists they all came home from the Callaway event with paintings that they immediately sent to their respective galleries in Valdosta, Hilton Head, St. Simons Island, Floridaâs Gainesville, Charleston, Atlanta, Savannah and Raleigh. Signature members of SLAC are Carly Clements from Snellville; Ruth Cox from Myrtle Beach South Carolina; L. Diane Johnson from Raleigh, North Carolina; Linda K. Blondheim from Gainesville, Florida; Deborah Carroll from Amelia Island, Florida; Durinda Cheek from Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, Sandra Babb from Ringgold, Georgia; Maureen Kerstein from Savannah, Georgia; Bambi Setzer from Macon, Georgia; Barbara Perrotti from Ormond Beach, Florida; Marsha Savage from Smyrna and Blue Ridge, Georgia and Phyllis Franklin from Thomaston and St. Simons Island, Georgia.
Artists truly inspire each other and each of the Southern Ladies Art Conference members will quickly tell you that if thereâs one thing certain about art, and most especially plein air painting, itâs this: all artists are perpetually learning no matter what level of proficiency they attain.
The Thomaston Upson Art Council Gallery will sponsor a group show for the Southern Ladies Art Conference in January of 2004. The show will be a composite of plein air work painted in 2003 by each member in various locations all over the South as well as some completed at the Callaway event. Also the holiday issue of Southern Lady Magazine will highlight the Southern Ladies Art Conference so check your news stands for that magazine. For more information about individual artists visit www.southernladiesart.com Phyllis Franklin's work can be seen at the Bishop's Chair and Coach House Antiques in Thomaston as well as on the web at www.phyllisfranklin.com
