This painting design was pitched to Harris Bank for a potential mural on East Main Street, around 2003/2004. The commission didn’t pan out, but it did produce what I believe to be my best, or one of my best compositions.
The female in my painting was inspired by Dellora Norris, a philanthropist behind much of what we recognize as St. Charles. She paid for the construction of the St. Charles Municipal Building, depicted behind her, in the painting. Many downtown St. Charles buildings were erected in the late 1920s, the period known for Art Deco, flappers and themes of modernization and moving into the future, which influenced this work, as well.