Portrait of the Artist At 40
Portrait of the Artist At 40
36 x 48
2001 / #3
“Portrait at 40” is my every 5-year painting of myself. Read about my portrait at 45 and you will find out more about the process of painting one’s own image. This piece was done to document things in my life that had occurred over the previous few years. My other portraits were done in my signature stained glass watercolor technique that was the series which preceded this one. I no longer paint watercolor unless specifically requested or commissioned to do so. What I have to say does not translate to watercolor very well and not to oils either, because they take so long to dry and my energy level is too fast. In this painting, I am surrounded by the chaos of my life as a mother, wife and homemaker yet I cannot think of one darned thing to paint. The “Women” series was very new at this point, only 2 years old, and I had not yet tapped into the resources of life outside of my own home. You will find references to scouting, the chores that must be done in every household as well as to the demands of the outside world, plus some special tributes to life’s unexpected events. Like what you ask? Well, the raccoon calendar has to do with the rabid raccoon that decided to have his death throes on my front porch just hours before a big party I was hosting. The heating pad and tether were from a severe injury that left me disabled for a long time. I had to work an event, so my friend Linda rigged up a heating pad with a long extension cord that would allow me to use my walker for greater distances. She would follow behind me plugging and unplugging my cord. The cat is Sparky, a stray who has since died, but was my studio buddy for years. She had a liver disease and the day I had her put down, the animal hospital called and said they had a liver and we could do a transplant. Hello! On a 13 year old cat? And just where did this liver come from, did you life-flight it in with a little igloo cooler, and how long is the donor waiting list? There is a painting waiting to be done in here some place. Compare this painting to the one at 45, you will find some things relocated, like the heating pad is now folded on the shelf hopefully to be never used again. I am now 51 and have yet to do my Portrait at 50!
36 x 48
2001 / #3
“Portrait at 40” is my every 5-year painting of myself. Read about my portrait at 45 and you will find out more about the process of painting one’s own image. This piece was done to document things in my life that had occurred over the previous few years. My other portraits were done in my signature stained glass watercolor technique that was the series which preceded this one. I no longer paint watercolor unless specifically requested or commissioned to do so. What I have to say does not translate to watercolor very well and not to oils either, because they take so long to dry and my energy level is too fast. In this painting, I am surrounded by the chaos of my life as a mother, wife and homemaker yet I cannot think of one darned thing to paint. The “Women” series was very new at this point, only 2 years old, and I had not yet tapped into the resources of life outside of my own home. You will find references to scouting, the chores that must be done in every household as well as to the demands of the outside world, plus some special tributes to life’s unexpected events. Like what you ask? Well, the raccoon calendar has to do with the rabid raccoon that decided to have his death throes on my front porch just hours before a big party I was hosting. The heating pad and tether were from a severe injury that left me disabled for a long time. I had to work an event, so my friend Linda rigged up a heating pad with a long extension cord that would allow me to use my walker for greater distances. She would follow behind me plugging and unplugging my cord. The cat is Sparky, a stray who has since died, but was my studio buddy for years. She had a liver disease and the day I had her put down, the animal hospital called and said they had a liver and we could do a transplant. Hello! On a 13 year old cat? And just where did this liver come from, did you life-flight it in with a little igloo cooler, and how long is the donor waiting list? There is a painting waiting to be done in here some place. Compare this painting to the one at 45, you will find some things relocated, like the heating pad is now folded on the shelf hopefully to be never used again. I am now 51 and have yet to do my Portrait at 50!