Finally complete. This one took me a while and I wanted to go back for more floral inspiration, but alas, the summer season has come and gone as have all the oleanders, and by the end of the month my neighbour, Betsy, will also be gone. She’s lived on my street since the neighbourhood was built in the mid-50’s. One of the last OG’s left.
Betsy’s Oleanders. Oil on wood panel. 8 x 12”.
The last year-and-a-half has been challenging. Pandemic quarantine lock-downs, California fires and unbreathable air, depression, introspection and so much more have all played a role in my dropping my paintbrush. It’s only recently that I have picked it back up, and am currently in process with this piece of work, below. It is untitled. It’s good to be returning to painting and to know, via my art peers, that I was not alone in my hiatus away from the easel.
Untitled, progress shot.
Today I woke up to my Instagram notifications dinging my phone, I later found out, from a new follower, that Create Magazine had featured my work on their website. I’m so thankful for the support and encouragement, both needed now more than ever! To read the mention I received, click here.
I got through what was probably the hardest Ramadan I’ve endured. Mostly mentally, brought on by our ever-extending imposed lock-down. Tomorrow is June 1st. I’m relieved for the daily continuance this self-portrait has provided me this last month.
‘Cala Piccola’.
Oil on wooden panel. 18x24”.
New times… We are being tested.
It took me a while to get out of the funk of accepting that we’re experiencing some kind of apocalyptic reality, and that never before did we have to make a choice; what kind of person do I want to become throughout this crisis?
I decided to continue with what I was doing and ordered some new canvas panels, and prepped them. As I primed them and sanded them, I felt a joy return. So I kept at it…
This in-progress piece is called ‘Cala Piccola’, which means “Little pebble” in Italian. It is a gated enclave in the mountains surround Porto Santo Stefano and has its own carved cliff stairway leading to the mediterranean water. It is a place I have spent numerous summers at, which is reflected in my reddish skin tone.
I’ve finally finished my self-portrait. I’ve decided to title it “Mrs”. The necklace I wore in it seemed to tell me what it needed to be called. This has been an interesting one, where I tried not to be so self-critical in both how I painted and what I was making myself look like. Definitely an experience I want to repeat again… I feel that painting teaches me so much, and every person I paint I am having "a moment” with, getting to know them, layer by layer. I am now in good company! :-)
left to right: “Aicha”, “Mrs”, and “Chinese Woman”.
New self portrait.
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