Harold Stratton passes away

[Cynthia Daniel]

If any of you knew Harold Stratton of Cordova, Tennessee, he passed away this past Monday, September 30. I don't know many details except that he battled cancer during this last year. I never met him personally, but he always impressed me as a very kind and caring man.

He was on Stroke of Genius until his health problems. I've included a photo of him. His bio from his Stroke of Genius pages:

As an artist, I was educated initially as a dentist. This was not at all bad, especially for a portrait artist. My degree is from the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry, and for thirty-four years, I practiced restorative and cosmetic dentistry. I loved what I was able to accomplish in changing the esthetically compromised smile into a beautiful expression of the person who suddenly gained in confidence and self-esteem.

Practicing dentistry became more difficult in the late 1980's, and by 1990, arthritis had robbed me of my ability to practice entirely. I began painting as a method of self-expression. First, it was landscapes, but soon I began painting Civil War scenes.

My first formal art training was in portraiture through a continuing education course at the University of Memphis in 1991. Portraits afforded me the same challenge that I had faced in my dental practice. Instead of changing a facial expression, I was now able to capture it. The head and neck anatomy that I learned in dental school now serves me well in painting these facial expressions. I feel that it still is not enough to capture a likeness. The challenge is to portray the personality as well.

I love painting children in pastel and occasionally in oil. The simplicity of the child, so unencumbered by the stress of life, allows expressions and portrayals that once captured will be treasured by the family and eventually by the grown child for years to come. I feel fortunate and truly blessed. My portraits hang in homes throughout the mid-south, and my Civil War prints sell nationally and internationally. I am a current member of the Portrait Society of America and past President of the Memphis / Germantown Art League