Inner States

I’ve been bending time, thinking and writing about the ways my life has meandered over the years. Memories are elusive. I’m looking for fragments from old treasures. As I discover and connect parts of myself, the more I understand the geography of my being.

In the same vein, from time to time I’ve painted self-portraits. My face and the way I choose to represent it change. Each image is a perception, not a likeness. I attempt to show some elements of my personality that often become more apparent at a later date. Painted from memory, they express how I felt that day.

I enjoyed inhabiting the color green. My stylistic influence for this portrait is Fauvism, a style of art known for intense colors that express emotions. The simplified forms and stylized brushstrokes evoke an introspective vision of myself rooted in the earth.

Feeling refreshed after a stroll by the sea. My focus was simplicity and expressive gestures that conveyed the lighthearted mood I was in that day.

I recalled a snapshot of me standing on the kitchen table when I was about 2 years old. It’s little me all dressed up with a big girl’s head. How could those tiny feet hold up my body? The lacey socks and ruffly dress bring to mind my walking doll that was bigger than me. I used to love watching sunlight travel across rooms, so created a mosaic of stained glass windows as a backdrop.

Crouching in a field as a kid with a picket fence of tulips. There’s a quizzical look on my face as I peer out the frame of an imaginary natural world, surrounded by my cheerful color: orange.