Imitating Life
I wouldn't normally go to something like the Hunters Point Open Studios, but mensia was presenting work there, and there were paintings of me involved, and I always appreciate an excuse to see her.
She was sharing space with a friend who does use the shipyard as her studio (it's got so much light!), and had already sold a piece by the time I made my way over, 2 hours into the event. There were two paintings I hadn't seen at all, and the ones I'd glimpsed on her easel over the past months looked very different -- in one case just a matter of changed highlights, and in another the crisp finishing of a plain black frame that really made it "pop" in a comic-book style. One seemed to have taken on a subtle twist that changed the way it read; I'd seen the source material, you understand, and got a tickle in my tummy at how her artistic license had morphed not just the shapes but also the subtext.
Here's what I got for my birthday present: a framed print of me attacking an innocent stuffed animal! It took me a long time to decide between that one and the one of me drowning, but I decided that I didn't need to have desperation staring out at me from a painting every day; I can see that in the mirror if I want. So I've got the sultry, sneering, wicked representation of a topsy-turvy fairytale instead.
byronium and rhiannonstone, of the hundred or so I'd invited, turned up, and we wandered the halls together. (I imagine some of the Maybes will be there today, or missed me yesterday.) I'd been really looking forward to introducing mensia to gayathri, but she was out of town at ANOTHER arts event this weekend. I am not really an art person, so I was glad to have company while I stared uncomprehendingly at lots of stuff and edged away from some of the more disturbing pieces. I did see some charcoal figure drawings that I liked very much, and I was utterly captivated by a vivid still life of lilies, backed by swirls of carmine and sheet music.
That's by Dominique Caron, and it's BIG: a powerful wall hanging that caught my eye as we left mensia's studio. "I want to be like THAT when I'm thirty," I declared. I also saw a smaller painting of poinsettias in the gallery, using some of the same reds, and knew I had to visit her studio. After bidding farewell to the two visitors, I headed back upstairs to mensia and stopped in at Dominique's space. The artist is a very pleasant woman with blonde hair and a French accent, and she had no shortage of admirers. One of the women who was eyeing the canvasses when I walked in was just bubbling over with enthusiasm. "You have such JOY in them," she said. I agree; there's something about her use of color and the motion in the background that makes me happy just looking at her work.
I said as much to her, and she asked me if I painted, myself. Laughing, I shook my head, and said that I was visiting a friend who had painted *me*. I handed her one of mensia's cards (did I mention that her business cards have me as Not-so-little Red Riding Hood on them??) and talked up her work a bit. And she asked me if I'd be interested in sitting for a portrait! She didn't have any of that type with her in the studio, but she pulled up a catalogue on her laptop and showed me some pencil drawings, mostly of children in her family. She said that she'd really like to draw a woman, instead, and that I had the right face for it. I was surprised and flattered, and accepted; hopefully we can make some time in the next few weeks.
Then, of course, I walked over to mensia's studio and had to explain why I was floating several inches off the ground. I took her to see Dominique's painting in the hall, and introduced them, so that mensia could see who it was that "wanted to steal her Muse". Their styles are very dissimilar, so there really couldn't be overlap, and besides -- mensia knows that I give my best Musitude to her and only her. And I've been assured that there will be more work on the Witch-Wife theme. I love her all that I can... and she's often sighed that I never can be all hers. She makes some fabulous art out of me, though.
She was sharing space with a friend who does use the shipyard as her studio (it's got so much light!), and had already sold a piece by the time I made my way over, 2 hours into the event. There were two paintings I hadn't seen at all, and the ones I'd glimpsed on her easel over the past months looked very different -- in one case just a matter of changed highlights, and in another the crisp finishing of a plain black frame that really made it "pop" in a comic-book style. One seemed to have taken on a subtle twist that changed the way it read; I'd seen the source material, you understand, and got a tickle in my tummy at how her artistic license had morphed not just the shapes but also the subtext.
Here's what I got for my birthday present: a framed print of me attacking an innocent stuffed animal! It took me a long time to decide between that one and the one of me drowning, but I decided that I didn't need to have desperation staring out at me from a painting every day; I can see that in the mirror if I want. So I've got the sultry, sneering, wicked representation of a topsy-turvy fairytale instead.
byronium and rhiannonstone, of the hundred or so I'd invited, turned up, and we wandered the halls together. (I imagine some of the Maybes will be there today, or missed me yesterday.) I'd been really looking forward to introducing mensia to gayathri, but she was out of town at ANOTHER arts event this weekend. I am not really an art person, so I was glad to have company while I stared uncomprehendingly at lots of stuff and edged away from some of the more disturbing pieces. I did see some charcoal figure drawings that I liked very much, and I was utterly captivated by a vivid still life of lilies, backed by swirls of carmine and sheet music.
That's by Dominique Caron, and it's BIG: a powerful wall hanging that caught my eye as we left mensia's studio. "I want to be like THAT when I'm thirty," I declared. I also saw a smaller painting of poinsettias in the gallery, using some of the same reds, and knew I had to visit her studio. After bidding farewell to the two visitors, I headed back upstairs to mensia and stopped in at Dominique's space. The artist is a very pleasant woman with blonde hair and a French accent, and she had no shortage of admirers. One of the women who was eyeing the canvasses when I walked in was just bubbling over with enthusiasm. "You have such JOY in them," she said. I agree; there's something about her use of color and the motion in the background that makes me happy just looking at her work.
I said as much to her, and she asked me if I painted, myself. Laughing, I shook my head, and said that I was visiting a friend who had painted *me*. I handed her one of mensia's cards (did I mention that her business cards have me as Not-so-little Red Riding Hood on them??) and talked up her work a bit. And she asked me if I'd be interested in sitting for a portrait! She didn't have any of that type with her in the studio, but she pulled up a catalogue on her laptop and showed me some pencil drawings, mostly of children in her family. She said that she'd really like to draw a woman, instead, and that I had the right face for it. I was surprised and flattered, and accepted; hopefully we can make some time in the next few weeks.
Then, of course, I walked over to mensia's studio and had to explain why I was floating several inches off the ground. I took her to see Dominique's painting in the hall, and introduced them, so that mensia could see who it was that "wanted to steal her Muse". Their styles are very dissimilar, so there really couldn't be overlap, and besides -- mensia knows that I give my best Musitude to her and only her. And I've been assured that there will be more work on the Witch-Wife theme. I love her all that I can... and she's often sighed that I never can be all hers. She makes some fabulous art out of me, though.