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PAINTING HILLARY: It takes just one NHS grad to paint a portrait of former First Lady Clinton
By Buzz Ball
Daily News Editor
Published: Monday, May 8, 2006 6:19 PM CDT

One might describe Ginny Crouch Stanford as a typical art guru of the '60s and '70s.

Following graduation from the hallowed halls of Neosho High and after just one semester at Southwest Missouri State, Ginny traveled to Europe to roam the art galleries feasting her eyes on the great works of famous and contemporary artists.

Although the "art bug" had already stricken her, the galleries convinced Ginny that art was her passion and hopefully, her vocation for life.

Dabbling in all genres of art, Ginny eventually chose acrylics as her preferred medium on canvas. And while she has painted everything from still life, to landscapes to individuals, it was portrait painting that appealed most to her and showed her skill and expertise with the brush and canvas.

After showing her work in galleries throughout Arkansas and New Orleans, the longtime Neosho resident gave up her Midwest roots and moved to Sebastopol, Calif., where she still has a studio.

One might also say that wandering the halls of European galleries was a waste of time.

Just the opposite. It gave her the motivation and the desire to become one of the premier portrait painters of this century.

That fantasy that was buried in the crevices of her mind has become reality as not one, but two of her portraits are hanging in the National Portrait Gallery at the world famous Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.

Stanford's first painting really cleared the path for the second. She was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to paint a portrait of food critic M.F.K. Fisher in 1991. That one painting, which has hung in the National Portrait Gallery and has been included in several exhibits throughout the years, caught the eye of another person that lead to Stanford's latest - and possibly her most famous - creation.

United States Sen. Hillary Clinton, and wife of former President Bill Clinton, became acquainted with Stanford when she lived in Arkansas in the 1970s. But when Hillary saw Stanford's painting of Fisher, she became enamored with her work.>br>
"They knew each other in Arkansas," said Stanford's mother, Mary Crouch, who lives in Neosho with her husband Howard. "But she really liked the Fisher painting. And that is why she asked Ginny to paint her portrait for the National Portrait Gallery."

The invitation to paint Hillary (not for the National Portrait Gallery at that time) came about four an a half years ago.

"She painted a 'study' of Hillary and Bill liked it so much, he bought it for Christmas," said Mary.

Then in January, she got the official nod to paint Hillary Clinton for the prestigious gallery. She was working literally to the unveiling to get every detail just right.

It was unveiled with Bill Clinton's portrait that was painted by Nelson Shanks.

President Clinton told the crowd at the unveiling that the painting of his wife measures up to the great works of history.

"I wound up with a wife straight out of the Renaissance," he said. "It is so beautiful."

Where this will take Crouch, only time will tell. But if you ask her parents, she is the greatest artist in the world.

"We are so proud of her," said Howard. "She comes back every year and we talk all the time. So we are very close, but this makes us so, so proud. It makes old people like us feel very young."

Story From The Neosho Daily News
Used With Permission

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