The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-12
ONE OF .BIRMINGHAM'S
 ARTISTS CHATS OF HER
 STUDENT LIFE ABROAD

best in music and the drama. T travelet a great deal she said but l worked ai I went, sketching in Holland, in Span and Italy and in Algiers. I worked a' hard as I had worked at home, but il
 was a very happy work, for most of i
 was done out of doors-a glorious recrea' ton after my studio life-and l was liv. ing among the people, following theil customs and making myself one of them as I fingered.
 Most of her time was passed in Hol- land, where she spent four summers. In Volundam, where she had her own little | cottage among the dilles she painted hel impressions of the clean little country about with an affection which she makes her brush tell. She loved the Dutch children and in her studio there are so many pictures of the funny little kiddies | that one can almost hear the click oi their wooden shoes. He was my pet, she said, showing a pastel sketch of a round eyed, chubby faced youngster with a fringe of straight naxen hair. He wae a perfect darling and when he turned hts back and walked off anyone would al- most have died laughing at him. He wore, of course, the tight little narrow | chested jacket and his waist was belted in so tightly that 1 always feared it was going to burst loose. And look at the unnecessary waste of cloth in his trous- i CTS. The women. too. you see, wear the l tightest waists, this eonfning of the up per part of the shoulders and bust giving the most absurd figure, according to American standards. Oh, yes, l always wore the Dutch costumes, and I believe I am better looking Dutch woman than | American"
 1 Her lace cap was shown at this point, the tight fitting, oddly winged affair, which she says is made of real lace, no matter how poor the peasant girl may | be. And L. she said, was poorest of them all'
 T kept very long hours in Volundam, l said Miss Douglas. working two hours every day before breakfast. And there are the daintiest water colors of the lit- tie boats and the blue waters and the nice. clean looking sun, which makes everyone want to go over and see it all ana smell the hyacinths and tulips. There is a sketch. too, of a bowl and some on ions, which was done one day at ran dom, but" Miss Douglas pleaded, Don't say anything about the opions. They | smell,' showing that she has the same | ideal of the hyacinth scented air and clean, sweet kitchen that only a Dutch woman knows A lovely painting done with the glory of color which Miss Douglas always reveled in, pictures a | fountain In Spain. The women in theil | bright gowns, and with their earthei l jars. the quaint old fountain, charm one When I painted this" remarked Miss Douglas, the great Spanish painter So rolla, was painting on the other side, and | 1 was so interested in watching him put on his colors that I think I sat half the time with my brush in mid air. II was astonishing the way he sptashed on the paints-just skipping them on the canvas like a house painter. but my, such ef- fects."
 Another painting which is radically diff | ferent from the cool tinted Dutch pie lures is a study done in. Algiers. It DOT trays the water sellers and has singular charm and style. It is in these warmly tinted pictures that Miss Douglas is at her best for her idea of color is excel lent now in oils as well as in water color, which was her medium before she left Birmingham. She is a pastellist, too of fine color, and her craftsmanship has l vastly improved since her drawing les sons under the masters abroad. "'rht | Water Seller is not a large painting
 but in the background is a glimpse of (
 quaint street and at the end the white | tower of mosque. In the foreground
 is the water seler-for one buys water | in Algiers-and his several customers
 "rhe prettest thing about Algiers to me-
 said Miss Douglas. ''is the glimpse o the mosques which one gets from almos
 any viewpoint
 There are some charming examples o
 portraiture, too, which do Miss Douglas. great credit though her preference is fol landscape and still life sketches. A DOT
 trait sketch which she calls "dans Ia
 Boudoir.' is a study of a woman whose
 sweet, serious face is turned in profile
 to watch some distant object. It is 2
 vivid presentation of a charming per
 sonality and exemplifies the painter
 aptitude for including characteristic in
 cdentals in her drawings; the cora
 beads about the pretty womans necl are as necessary to the general ensem
 ble as the Oriental background whicl
 she has so beautifully introduced. Ant
 apropos of backgrounds Miss Dougla!
 has brought some yeritable treasure!
 from Europe which she expects to us'
 for this purpose There are Spanisl
 sbawls of cherry red, widely fringed an,
 richly embroidered; black and scarle
 mantillas, embroidered with the brillian
 flowers which the Spanish senorita wear
 to make herself more fascinating an' coquettish, gorgeous old mandarin
 slsirt-the jacket was almost priceless. ant
 again Miss Douglas referred pensively t
 the poverty of a peasant artist as : reason why 1t was left behind. Many o these pretty things will be used in effect
 ing backgrounds and in costumin:
 models
 Of her triumph abroad Miss Dougla spoke with the testing manner that al ways greets references to her person ality. Yes" she answered, several O
 my pictures were exhibited. l was no
 expecting the prominence which m
 painting received in the salon-in fact when I was told that it was accepte 2 and even when I found 1t listed in tn f catalogue. I doubted, for l went ovel I and making an inspection, failed to fin
 it where l had no doubt it would be-
 high above to the line I really ex 9 pected to take a telescope or a pair o
 field glasses to find it.--and so l miss
 ed it until a friend informed me that m 2 painting held a coveted position on tn
 line, Four of my pictures were ex ,. khibited with criticisms that were yer plea sing to me-" This, of course I : the fulfilled desire of the art student fl