BY JUDI LASER
Deep in the back woods of Parkton lies a log cabin set among the lush land of a fairie world. Walking down a flagstone path to get to the front door, and looking at lawns in which a fairie path has been cut out and designed through those same woods, you could be forgiven for thinking a fairie opens the front door to greet you - for artist Linda Biggs is not much bigger than the fairies and gnomes that she paints among delicately pasteled florals of her FairieForest Watercolors.
"When I was little, my favorite story was Thumbelina; and I drew her over and over and over again. It's never changed," says Biggs. "My favorite painting is still one I did 15 years ago. It had a fairy in it, Every one now has a fairy in it."
That original painting, titled "Reflections," is one of several paintings that have been printed on to note cards that Biggs has for sale through her website (www.fairieforest.com) and at shows such as Sugarloaf this past weekend and the Glen Rock, Pa. Fairie Festival at Spotswood Farm the weekend of May 5-6.
Painting has always been an outlet and therapy for Biggs, as is true for many creative people. Frustrated with difficulties in leaming, Biggs would work out her emotions in her watercolors, preferripg the solitude of a loner.
A diagnosis of dyslexia was not confirmed until she reached her senior year in high school. Though she taught herself to read after high school in order to complete job apphcations, during her school years her art had taken priority and proved to be the outlet she needed.
"I was always found in the art room at school," she grins .... even when she should have been somewhere else. Art was a place to hide, and Biggs admits, "still is."
She credits her Towson High School art teacher, James Drake Iams, as her encouragement and mentor. "He is the only person that every taught me how to do anything with it. What he was able to teach me was incredible." She has tried other media such as acrylics and oils, but doesn't get the same feeling as she does with watercolors.
Following high school, Biggs spent 10 years with an ad agency and nine years in sales and marketing Schmitz Press. It was hard core sales and about two years ago, Biggs made a decision to change her career. "Being in that atmosphere, I was so rigid and edgy I just couldn't do it any more."
She began painting again and decided to try and make it as a full time artist, returning to the fairie world she has loved for most of her life. She feels she is a woman of high emotions, and that comes out in her paintings. Her mood swings determine the bent of her painting. "I'm really moody. The gnomes come more if I'm not in a pleasant mood. They have the other side of the spirits."
Her use of color defies convention, not unlike the artist herself. With the passion and luxury of purples throughout he delicate spring greens and pastels of her paintings, Biggs' eyes sparkle with mischief as she explains "Purple is like a nono. That's why I even painted my (living room) wall purple. It just kind of crosses that line - and it's fun. If I'm not up to something, I'm bored."
One painting on display in her living room shows a fairy sitting on snow-covered ground, with just a couple of blades of grass peeking out as a "snow drop blossoms on her hand.-Ibe look of frustration on her face brings the painting to life. Looking at the delicate green of new grass, poking out of the snow, she just knows spring has been delayed by a final bout of Mother Nature.
"She is frustrated...1 was going out of my mind (waiting for spring)! All of my fairies have attitudes," Biggs exclaims through her laughter. "I have an attitude!" The wings of her fairies and gnomes are those of butterflies and dragonflies.
"A butterfly is actually a nonbeliever's fairy. A butterfly is what ... grown ups who can't see fairies see butterflies." Biggs smiles over the fact that she has two daughters, one of whom sees fairies and one who sees butterflies.
On her first time out, Biggs is ecstatic over being a selected artist of Sugarloaf this year. Though hundreds of artists and crafts people vie for coveted booths, each must be a juried selection. She has also been selected for a booth at the Glen Rock Fairie Festival, again chosen on her first application. She is excited over the prospect that she can dress up as a fairie and decorate her display stand in the theme of the weekend.
Her work is reasonably priced, with note cards selling at a starting price of $2, lithograph prints beginning at $25 and framed pfints starting at $100, which she mats and frames herself ' Schmidt's Press has been very supportive of the employee who left business for the world of art. They have taken Biggs on as a client, making her lithograph prints from her original her fairy art. She has no regrets about leaving the security of a nine-to-five job for the life of an artist, which depends so much on the tastes of the public.
"I know what makes me happy and painting makes me happy," says Biggs. "I don't want to give that up. I really want this to work. I'm going to make it work for me."