The last few months have been rather difficult for me. Along with the stress that has accompanied finalizing materials needed for graduate school admissions I've also had some nasty health problems which took me out of commission for almost two months. My health is good again and I found myself craving some marathon painting sessions.
I also found myself taking some time and reflecting back upon my life as well as my art. Since I am not much of a blogger, but more of a stream of consciousnesses kind of gal, I took a photo of myself and jotted down my observations in a posting to Flickr. Below is that photo and my observations:
Sitting in front of "Her blood was fire" from 2009. When I die, this piece is going to a man I love. It's already been written into my Will.
Lately I have been reflecting on my life. One thing that I cannot separate from myself is my art. I've painted since I was a child. My style has evolved since then but I still get asked the same questions such as “What were you thinking when you painted that?" and "What does it mean?" Typically I tell them what music I was listening to or what piece of art I was thinking about but really, my art is not about any of these things. It's about me or more specifically, my emotions. My art is what I cannot say, what I cannot find the words for, what I am feeling down to the core of my bones.
My art is me. It is all about me; every single piece, color, stroke, and wild gesture. It's all about me. I only paint myself. I never realized until today that I only paint self-portraits.
I think that it's only natural that since I'm on the verge of a major transition in my life which is being shaped by finally being healthy, seizure-free, and thus being able to finish graduate school, I've been asking myself some of the bigger questions. Many of these questions revolve around my self-identity, what I need and desire from life, as well as my belief systems.
That is how I came to paint "Mictecacihuatl" and "Medusa", two mythological women who are not protectors of beauty or of love, but instead represent death, feminine archetypes, and the darker side of humanity. I have to give credit to my good friend, Margaret Mroczek, for introducing the notion of painting mythological themes by utilizing my own personal twist. She has helped me greatly with understanding how I can incorporate themes that are typically portrayed figuratively into my own personal abstract language. She's an excellent artist and great to bounce ideas off.
For the first time since I've been painting abstracts, I "sketched out" these two works. I looked at art representing both of the mythological ladies and incorporated colors and gestures that seemed to epitomize their essence. I was quite please with the results and plan on approaching more work in this manner in the future.
I also produced other watercolors in my more normal manner which pretty much involves not thinking, but just painting to music. No thoughts only reactions.
I'm really looking forward to the next year. It is going to be filled with wonderful opportunities, a new life, a new home, and hopefully, a renewed love of painting.
Mictecacihuatl
watercolor on paper
Medusa
watercolor on paper
A blessed curse
watercolor on paper
What I find is mine
watercolor on paper
Slow Climb
watercolor on paper
It just had to be
watercolor on paper
Bury your secrets
watercolor on paper
I also found myself taking some time and reflecting back upon my life as well as my art. Since I am not much of a blogger, but more of a stream of consciousnesses kind of gal, I took a photo of myself and jotted down my observations in a posting to Flickr. Below is that photo and my observations:
Sitting in front of "Her blood was fire" from 2009. When I die, this piece is going to a man I love. It's already been written into my Will.
Lately I have been reflecting on my life. One thing that I cannot separate from myself is my art. I've painted since I was a child. My style has evolved since then but I still get asked the same questions such as “What were you thinking when you painted that?" and "What does it mean?" Typically I tell them what music I was listening to or what piece of art I was thinking about but really, my art is not about any of these things. It's about me or more specifically, my emotions. My art is what I cannot say, what I cannot find the words for, what I am feeling down to the core of my bones.
My art is me. It is all about me; every single piece, color, stroke, and wild gesture. It's all about me. I only paint myself. I never realized until today that I only paint self-portraits.
I think that it's only natural that since I'm on the verge of a major transition in my life which is being shaped by finally being healthy, seizure-free, and thus being able to finish graduate school, I've been asking myself some of the bigger questions. Many of these questions revolve around my self-identity, what I need and desire from life, as well as my belief systems.
That is how I came to paint "Mictecacihuatl" and "Medusa", two mythological women who are not protectors of beauty or of love, but instead represent death, feminine archetypes, and the darker side of humanity. I have to give credit to my good friend, Margaret Mroczek, for introducing the notion of painting mythological themes by utilizing my own personal twist. She has helped me greatly with understanding how I can incorporate themes that are typically portrayed figuratively into my own personal abstract language. She's an excellent artist and great to bounce ideas off.
For the first time since I've been painting abstracts, I "sketched out" these two works. I looked at art representing both of the mythological ladies and incorporated colors and gestures that seemed to epitomize their essence. I was quite please with the results and plan on approaching more work in this manner in the future.
I also produced other watercolors in my more normal manner which pretty much involves not thinking, but just painting to music. No thoughts only reactions.
I'm really looking forward to the next year. It is going to be filled with wonderful opportunities, a new life, a new home, and hopefully, a renewed love of painting.
Mictecacihuatl
watercolor on paper
Medusa
watercolor on paper
A blessed curse
watercolor on paper
What I find is mine
watercolor on paper
Slow Climb
watercolor on paper
It just had to be
watercolor on paper
Bury your secrets
watercolor on paper
