The beauty of a peacock is one of the most beautiful sights to see. The iridescent sparkle of its colorful feathers is mesmerizing. Peacocks, a symbol of compassion and kind-heartedness, convey mystery, majesty, and grace. Our peacock here, inspired by Momo ni Kujaku (Peach Blossoms and Peacock), graces the roof of the Rogers-Green House, enveloping the structure with its tail, protecting and adorning this important historic building.

Visitors to a new town often overlook the back of buildings, but I was inspired by the tall tower’s soaring presence. The Hiroshige print has eight color impressions, a testament to the attention to detailed beauty the peacock demands. The peacock’s soft tail feathers create a stark contrast to the house’s hard-edged architectural details, and the dark windows counterbalance the organic presence of the peacock on the roof. How lovely to be able to combine these two elements into one painting!

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Magical Landscapes:
An Artist’s Fusion of Japanese Ukiyo-e Prints and Laurel’s Architectural Heritage
Paintings by René Shoemaker
Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, MS, USA

"Athens, Georgia artist René Shoemaker explores the way spaces work together and how people inhabit and interact with their environment. For her exhibition at Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, she is investigating both the architecture of Laurel, Mississippi, and the Museum’s collection of Japanese woodblock prints to produce paintings on silk. Inspired by the Japanese aesthetic and representation of objects, patterns and colors, her compositions respond to the designs that are engraved onto the woodblock prints, and incorporate scenes from the Lauren Rogers Museum buildings and the intriguing architecture of Laurel itself. Bringing together these two artistic movements that are separated in space and time, the artist creates a magical landscape that communicates with a new language of images. Shoemaker’s paintings are comparable in size to the prints in the collection, and they will be hung side-by-side in this exhibition."
-Kristen Miller Zohn, curator