MIDDLEBURY — WomenSafe announces that Addison County artist Phoebe Stone’s artwork will grace its 2013 Mother’s Day card — the 12thannual Mother’s Day card in the Local Women Artist Series.
Stone says she has always been an artist. One of her earliest memories is of her fifth birthday party in which an easel and paints suddenly appeared in her house along with a group of children and a lot of balloons. At the party, she and all the children had to stand in line waiting for a turn to paint at the easel. When the guests went home she thought the easel and paints would leave with them. “Oh, no,” her family told her. “The paints and easel are yours to keep!” From then on, she has found great joy and solace in painting. She also writes novels for young people (published by Arthur A. Levine Books, Scholastic) and has written and illustrated four picture books for little ones.
Before combining her love for images and words into picture books, Stone was a successfully established fine arts painter. During this time, she has received two Vermont Council on the Arts painting fellowships. Her work was exhibited in many museums and galleries all around New England and New York City influencing many New England artists with her unique, brightly colored narrative and metaphorical style.
Presently, Stone resides in Addison County. When she is not writing or painting, she enjoys growing flowers in her garden, which she makes into bouquets to paint. She also loves to read and study history. In the warm weather she is fond of going to flea markets and can often be seen with her husband, David Carlson, riding bicycles around Addison County.
The pastel “Picnic with Mama” that graces the front of the WomenSafe 2013 Mother’s Day card is an illustration for a book called “A Day in the Country,” which has not yet been published.
Making a donation to WomenSafe in the name of one’s mother or friend will help those women who may not be safe this Mother’s Day. Donations may be sent, by May 8, to WomenSafe, PO Box 67, Middlebury VT 05753, along with the name and address of the chosen honoree. WomenSafe will acknowledge the gift by sending that person Phoebe Stone’s “Picnic with Mama” card.