I have found that when I get stuck for very long in my painting, it often helps me to get unstuck for me to paint a new style of self- portrait. So, yesterday, I painted this little doodle: sort of a combination abstract and pointilist self-portrait, with lipstick and glasses.
It is on a 12″ diameter stretched canvas. If you really want it, talk to me. we can haggle. Therapy not included.
When I get stuck in my painting, I eventually figure out that I need to go back to where I started and paint a self-portrait. I believe this is my ninth. Each one is a different style or approach. I realized as I was planning this one that Frida Kahlo and Vincent Van Gogh each did 35 or 36 self-portraits. Self-portraits are liberating. There is no customer who needs to be satisfied or who is going to judge it. The pressure is off.
That is the color of my hair, this week. And, it is cut and combed in a Mohawk. I’m wearing black, so I’m wearing pearls like the ladies on Facebook told me I should.
This painting is acrylic on veneer on an 18″ diameter particle board with a rope loop to hang it.
If you want to buy it. Make me an offer.
I recently bought these glasses from GlassesUSA.com. I have become sensitive to light, both during the day, and to headlights at night. I was able to specify gradient lenses 80% to 30% top to bottom on my progressive lenses.
I have been blocked in my painting for the last few months. I finally realized that every other time when I have been blocked and could not figure out what to paint, I have painted a self-portrait. Three of them have been ‘normal’.
This painting is acrylic on 20″ x 10″ stretched canvas. The edges are painted black, and it is titled, dated, and signed on the bottom, so no framing is needed.
Price: $50 plus postage
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This painting is of my mouth at age 17, from my high school, senior picture. It is amazing how one’s lips thin as one ages.
It is black and white acrylic on 24″ x 12″ stretched canvas.
Price: $120 plus postage
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When I get stuck in my art, I go back to the beginning. The beginning was a self-portrait. I am beginning to understand why Frida Kahlo and Vincent Van Gogh painted so many self-portraits. Not that I dare compare myself to them; well, not yet, anyway. This is only my sixth self-portrait. Ask me if and when I finish my 36th self-portrait. They are a great exercise. One knows what one looks like and what one is feeling. You can experiment with your own likeness and not worry about anyone getting offended by or being disappointed with the result. The pressure is off.
For this portrait, I recycled a painting I had done for Perkasie Fun-A-Day 2017. It was Hope #22 Fun. I turned it sideways and painted my likeness over it, based on a snapshot that Bethann had taken of me in August. I had a bit of a sunburn. I was wearing my Menlo Aquatic Center tag as an earring, along with a green rabies tag earring that Hilary had made me, both in my left ear. At the beginning of the summer, I lost the rabies tag earring in the pool. At the end of the season, I lost my pool tag in the pool, after going down the twisty water slide. The guards found my rabies tag earring. The pool tag was lost, but everyone knew me and we only had four days left in the season. So it was not an issue.
This painting is acrylic on 20″ x 16″ stretched canvas.
Price: $150 plus postage
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On June 8, 2016, I had open heart surgery to replace my aortic valve, which had been damaged by an infection. It all happened quite suddenly. We only discovered the damage on April 4, when I had what we thought was a stroke. It turned out to be a severe TIA. It was serendipitous in that it triggered a battery of tests that uncovered the weakness in my heart. It needed fixing quickly. The doctors at Penn expedited my case. I had my heart catheterization on May 9 to make sure I didn’t need any bypasses or stents.
At 6am on June 8, Bethann & I went to the Hospital at U. Penn. and checked me in to pre-op. Later that day, I was so happy to wake up alive! Bethann told me that my first words were: “Where is my keyboard? I want my keyboard.” I wanted to write. Once I got my keyboard, I couldn’t focus to write anyway. I haven’t been able to focus to write or to paint since the surgery. My days have been full of visiting nurse visits, doctor visits, walks, naps. I have researched subjects to paint. I did one sketch that was less than satisfactory. I finally decided to start over where I started in April; with a self-portrait. That is why I call this painting “Reset”. I’m using it to reset my creativity to get back on track writing, painting, editing, etc.
This painting is based on a photo I took using my Mac just before my surgery. My granddaughter Isabella saw my hair blowing around in my face when we were riding in the back of their car. She said I looked like a rock star with my hair in my eyes. I had already started painting this when she said this, but had not painted the face yet. In the photograph, the computer screen is reflected in my sunglasses. I decided to paint an opening door, instead.
Painting is 24″ x 18″ acrylic on stretched canvas.
Price: $300 plus Postage
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