Painted at an intimate scale, this work showcases American artist Jean-Marie Hamel’s fascination with light and how it can move, soften, or hold emotion so that illumination becomes this portrait’s true subject. The title, “Georgia On My Mind,” borrows the language of remembrance hinting at a private, inward image, as if the woman with light skin and long, loose blonde to light brown hair streaked with warm gold is caught between presence and recollection. She is American actor and director Joanna Kerns, most famous for playing Maggie Seaver, the mom, on the hit 1980s–early 1990s TV sitcom Growing Pains. It’s less like celebrity portraiture than a character study, emphasizing concentration, resilience, and perhaps emotional privacy. Her hair falls over both shoulders, with a single braid on to our right. She wears a soft white blouse with a V-shaped neckline which is painted in broad, pale strokes that suggest folds rather than crisp seams. Her face is turned slightly toward us while her eyes meet ours, giving a steady, guarded expression. Subtle blush warms the cheeks and her closed lips are softly defined. A strong highlight catches her forehead and left cheekbone, while the opposite side of her face drops into shadow, deepening the sense of quiet intensity. The background is an unobtrusive, warm gray-brown field that keeps our focus on her gaze and the shifting light across her features. Hamel (born in Louisiana in 1949 and now based in Santa Barbara, California) describes herself as a visual storyteller. Here, she strips away props and setting to focus on face, hair, and atmosphere, inviting us to slow down and meet Joanna’s steady gaze. Shown through Northwell’s Women Who Dared collection, created to counter the historic underrepresentation of women artists and displayed across Northwell locations with audio commentary, the portrait also quietly argues that women’s stories belong in spaces of care and healing.
“Georgia On My Mind” by Jean-Marie Hamel (American) - Oil on canvas / c. 2010s - Northwell Health, Women Who Dared Collection (New Hyde Park, New York) #WomenInArt #JeanMarieHamel #art #arte #artText #NorthwellHealth #WomenWhoDared #PortraitofaWoman #JoannaKerns #WomensArt #WomanArtist #WomenArtists
