I am concerned with the painting of women’s issues in my self portraits. I work from life, using mirrors to reflect myself along with other objects that are potent with symbolism, adding more layers to my story.
- A Life to Paint Oil painting • 14″ x 14″ • framed
- Bathroom Mermaid Oil painting • 30″ x 24″ • unframed
- Between Courage and Fear Oil painting • 12″ x 9″ • framed
- Close Read Oil painting • 12″ x 9″ • framed
- Conversation With Eve Oil painting • 30″ x 24″ • framed
- Desire Oil painting • 48″ x 36″ • framed
- Do I? Oil painting • 36″ x 36″ • framed
- Fast Forward Oil painting • 36″ x 12″ • framed
- Garden Self-portrait Oil painting • 20″ x 40″ • framed
- Patterns Emerge Oil painting • 28″ x 22″ • framed
- Practicing My Mean Face Oil painting • 12″ x 9″ • framed
- Reflecting Their Creator Oil painting • 16″ x 30″ • framed
- Rock Paper Scissors Oil painting • 36″ x 48″ • framed
- Self Portrait Brown Sweater Oil painting
- Self-portrait Cooking Oil painting • 16″ x 20″ • framed
- Self-portrait Flowered Oil painting • 9″ x 12″ • framed
- Self-portrait in Daughter’s Room Oil painting • 30″ x 24″ • framed
- Self-portrait Striped Oil painting • 12″ x 12″ • framed
- Surrounded by Self Oil painting • 24″ x 36″ • framed
- Things Get in the Way Oil painting • 22″ x 28″ • framed
- Small Self Portrait Oil painting • 6″x 6″ • framed
- Going Gray Oil painting • 8″x 8″ • framed
- Creating Paradise Oil painting • 16″x 20″ • unframed
My identity is explored to show a range of ages, along with their concerns. Earlier work shows a youthful painter in the garden, or a figure of a mermaid, poking fun at my fear of water. Marriage and home life are portrayed in a self-portrait cooking, and still life paintings that display gratitude and love. Even the gift of a daughter is documented with scrutiny.
There are times when complexities of life are explored, as in “Things Get in the Way.” I explore my faith in “Conversation with Eve”, and “Reflecting Their Creator”. Some are humorous, like “Practicing My Mean Face,” a recent self-portrait as a dragon, painted as a response from one of my friends saying I was “too nice.”
Looking over the years, I circled back to the ideas that have previously intrigued me. Homes are repeated, flowers are integral, along with gold as a symbol. These have culminated in “Patterns Emerge”, a painting that looks over the past, and notices what themes have developed in life and art. I never could have conceived this subject at a younger age. I am thankful for my life and even the longer vantage point I am able to work with at this time.
This painting speaks to the original purpose of why I paint: I paint the struggles of life, and the gifts that emerge from them.