Playing cards at 4 with Grandma Cora looking at you, tapping her fingers, Yikes!

When I was a Child of Three, I use to gaze wide eyed, with Imaginative Perspective, & Depth Perception, as I studied everything in great wonderment of detail, Since I was always alone, I didn't speak my thoughts out loud, but Deeply Internalized Everything, & much like a Computer today, I would organize the young thoughts I was having until I had a grasp on their meaning, Obsessively so.

Wrangling in Sedona on a Palomino Lead Horse

My very first Pencil Portrait Sketches of you know who!  By Corinne Layton

Reminiscent of Days Gone By, Yet with a Timeless Quality

A Pastel Portrait I did of my Great Grandparents on my Mothers side

Russell & Lorraine Beckman

Collectible Show in Long Beach

When I was a Wrangler in Sedona on my Arabian Salute, taking out City Slickers on all Day Rides

Artist Corinne Layton Autobiography

One day in the back of my Grandmothers house behind our Station, next to a dirt road, I saw a Man riding up bareback on a white horse, he stopped and looked at me, He told me he was riding up to the end of the road, would I like to come along, For the first time, someone spoke to me as a little person, invoking a decision, on my part, Shyly, I shook my head No. so he said alright then and rode away. I had never seen a horse before and inside really wanted to go, but somehow knew I shouldn't. I watched him until he was out of site. Every day for as long as I can remember, I went back to that place, hoping to see him once again, but I never did. I became obsessed with white horses, so much that I started drawing them, with this man on the back, then I would try to remember his face, and started drawing that, to where my parents were amazed at how life like the pictures were, at 3 Years Old. I began drawing all the family, as I didn't speak much, as I wasn't spoken to, nor read to, so that part of my cognitive learning developed slowly, but visually, I studied their faces in great detail. Never told it was impolite to stare. Stoic Germans from the old country, they played cards, and never said a lot, so you began to read their intentions and thoughts toward you through osmosis, whether they were happy, or if you were in trouble. It was an interesting upbringing, As I reflect, it is Amazing what you learn in life's Strengths, just by playing Canasta with Grandma Cora, Being Quiet, you learn to tap into your opponent's thoughts, anticipating their next move! So I became really good in Sales, and Negotiations, she would tap her fingers with impatience, so you had to be fast in your decisions, Survival Skills are Developed! You didn't want to make Grandma Cora Mad, she was a sore Looser, so you always knew if you won, it wasn't because she let you! She was the Accountant, so basic skills to help one survive in Life were learned! When we traveled to Germany many years ago, I understood The Ole Country as they called it, families sit in the pubs, and are all playing cards! Survival Skills for Life! :) Although I had reading comprehension  issues, in a day where visual auditory skills were deemed as somewhat retarded, But yet I was brilliant in understanding, sing song and learn didn't exist then, so I was a average C student except for Art  Music, & History, where I excelled, but that didn't seem to matter then, so I retreated even more into my own beautiful creative world, where I became adept as a portrait Artist. This never left & now in Golden Years I am coming back to it. as Selfies are Saturating the Market, I think there will be interest. Looking for someone who can still Capture a Likeness, I like to paint Lifesize! As one of the Last of the Mohican Portrait Artists still Alive.

Now there is an interesting story of how this man on the horse I looked for every day developed. as a young teenager, I saw my first Robert Redford Movie, Brubaker, I think it was. There he was, the man on the horse, I was sure of it I had finally found out what happened to him. So of course like all of us girls, I had this undying Crush, that lasted into my adult life, His was my first pencil sketches, and my first attempt at sculpting in highschool. really amazed at the likeness I was able to capture, as shown in the Sketches below. As for the obsessive occupation with horses, I was able to buy myself a White Arabian, Salute, and take out what we called City slickers as a wrangler in Sedona, not realizing until years later, that it was I who lead these clients to that place, up at the end of the road that I never got to experience. Later I was asked to create a façade for a Equestrian Riding Stable in Tempe, where I painted life size paintings of but of Course Butch Cassidy, & the Sundance Kid, John Wayne, & Clint Eastwood in the side window. The reason I live in Arizona, is because of Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, and all the Westerns we grew up with, As I go on to tell of the development of Portraiture, on the next pages, & the introduction to Collectibles, by being asked to do Plates. I thought you would enjoy this rudimentary beginning to this Artist's Life.

One last thought about this Man on the Horse, some years ago I told my Dad the Story before he passed away, He said, "Oh that must have been our neighbor. as he looked like Redford. Just Last year my older brother told me why I never saw him again, it was shortly after that time, that my Dad went over to his Garage to check on him, and he had put a gun in his mouth and of course you know, I wish I didn't know I could go on believing it was Robert Redford instead, I wrote once to tell him the Story, it was before the Horse Whisperer came out, there is that one scene, where he finds Kristen Scott Thomas on this road, he rode up to her on his horse to say Hello! I always liked to think it was a subtle answer to my long Fan Letter on Parchment. Still waiting for him to Produce/Direct/ &Act in the Time & Again Story he bought the rights to some 25 years ago! The Timing is perfect right now, as We Make America Great Again! :) To read more of my Art Journey which will be continuing, look for Eloquence of the Heart Part 2 at the top of the page. Also I have Gallery Pages of my work, when you click this link to my Main Website http://www.vintagefrenchstyle.com

Eloquence of the Heart

As a Prelude to becoming 68 in February 2020. My desire is to describe my Creative Journey, for all the many Collectors of Portraits, Pastels, Oil Paintings, Limited Edition Lithographs, Giclees. Canvas Transfers,  Collectible Plates, OOAK Artist Dolls, Ashton Drake Dolls, Hawthorne Victoriana Resin Houses, Plush, Christmas, Venetian Plaster Designs, and all the many Creative Endeavors along the Way. This is for my Family, Friends, and Loving Collectors, for History, and hopefully added value to the items you have kept and treasured through the years. I am believing The Best is Yet to Come in 2020, As in tremendous Health, I Embark upon Refined Life size Portraiture, bring to bear All I have Learned, to Accomplish yet my Best Work!  As We All now Work Together to Make America Great Again, Believing for a Beautiful Future, Hope & Prosperity for All, once again with our New President Trump!

The Man on the Horse

Day in and Day out from 3 years old to 5, I wandered the Farm, My Grandparents owned a Dairy Farm and one of the 1st Standard Gas Stations in the Town we lived, So as you can imagine, Everyone was extremely busy, and occupied, my older brother also worked in the station when not in school, my younger brother had Rheumatic Fever, so my Mother was occupied with carrying him everywhere, I was the middle child, much like an orphan, wandering the farm each day, my only direction was. don't go near the crick (as they called it) other than that, I had complete freedom, so what developed was this extremely vivid imagination, everything was visual and auditory perception, no little friends to play or converse with, no storybooks read to me, Even though it wasn't intentional, "when your Mother & Father forsake you, The Lord will Take you Up" the Bible says, and I felt His constant Love and Protection, understanding beyond my years, of what may or may not harm me, I didn't know what fear was. The 50's were a time before Television if you can Imagine that  & we didn't listen to Radio as I recall, but my Mother Loved Band Music, so the Phonograph, was a huge part of my  auditory world. 

This is how I best describe myself as a Life Long Artist

The Early Years

I Painted this at Yosemite, when I was trying out a Clayboard  in the 90's

Corinne Layton Today 2020 in Scottsdale Arizona 25 years Alone since my Divorce from my 15 year Marriage to Bill Layton Ended Abruptly, As difficult as it was, Life Goes on, I am Healthy & Happy

My Horse Salute & I in our yard when I lived in Sedona

The Stillman Clan The Irish/Celtic on my Mother Lorraine's side, on the right in the Middle, she has been gone 35 years this March. They have all been gone for years now, just cousin's remain, But I would be remiss not to Remember her in this Autobiography,My mother was an Artist

My son Justin & me

The Beer Barons from Germany on the Farm

With Brushstrokes in my Imagination as soft as a Tender Caress, this is how it all Began! To fully understand I must be a bit God Fearing & Freudian in my Explaination of my Formative Years Development! When you reach your 60's you will understand! As though the Grand Puzzle of your Life begins to come together, if you take the time to reflect. What I mean by Freudian, is, that he believed, which I have come to agree with, that your Personality becomes fully formed in your 1st five years of life, after that circumstances may mold the outcome, but you will find in reflection, this to be true, The God Fearing as Respect corrects any inner flaws of Character Along the way, Depending how Open one is to that, I can only Speak of my own Experience, and hope it Encourages your own journey of Faith. I, like our New President, did not Drink, Smoke or do Drugs, so my Mind remains extremely Clear & strong, short & long Term Memory, no Bipolar disorder, nor schizophrenia that often goes with vises. But instead a Peaceful Temperament.

My memory goes back to being in the crib, but the most Profound experience occurred when I was Three Years Old,  The moment of Self Realization, as someone other than a child to be taken care of by my parents. This Epiphany Moment in Time molded my Life in such a way, that I can reflect back upon it, exactly where I stood in my Grandparents Farm, where we lived in Wisconsin, until I was Five. As I Tell the Story you will begin to understand.

My son & I