Work in Progress

Today, I visited my friend Kelly's blog where she was showing an underpainting she had done for a portrait she is working on. That inspired me to do the same for my current work in progress. I loved it in the sketch phase (you can see that in this post) and am thrilled how she is emerging here

I've had a realization being in my etching class with all those students who want to make art their career. They are taking classes to improve their craft and find out what is "good art" that will make them a living. I paint for such very different reasons.

To me, there is nothing better than painting a face and have it come to life. I suspect it's much like a novelist fleshing out a fictional character. They don't really exist, but somehow they become real and convey something to the observer. That's why I paint these women - for that moment of connection. And somehow that seems incredibly important. Painting anything else does not give me the same feeling. Painting for what I think others might like doesn't do anything for me at all.

Last year I tried to paint other things and while that was ok, I totally lost my joy in making art. Not during the classes I was taking - I enjoyed my drawing classes immensely and I'm loving etching at the moment, but my own art. It has made me realize that I'm not painting to express or realize myself. Sometimes it feels as though these women are somewhere in my consciousness just waiting to be expressed.

And for these women here there's nobody else who can bring them into being except me. I love that about being an artist (or a human being for that  matter) - nobody can express what is yours to express. We each have something to say in a way that's entirely unique to each of us.

So this year, I'm giving in and painting what brings me the most joy. Women portraits. Not men. Not children. Not animals. Not landscapes. Maybe the occasional flower. And I'm painting in a way that brings me the most satisfaction, meaning with lots of layers and textures.

Painting from the heart - there really is no other way, is there?!