On Becoming a Girl

About a year and a half ago I began this painting, but didn't finish it.  It's very large (60"x40"), and her body is much larger than life size.  I think I felt a little bit intimidated by it, or perhaps I got caught up in something else - I don't really remember -but it spent some time up in my storage loft until two weeks ago when I decided it was time to finish it.

I've entitled this piece "On Becoming a Woman" because this young woman is in the process of becoming a woman.  Several years ago it became clear to her that she was born into the wrong body and needed to change it as much as she could.  I admire her courage - first for having enough guts to do what she needed to do to feel integrity within herself and secondly for posing for me and allowing others to see her body as it is mid-transition.  Thank you, dear friend, for your courage.  May you find peace within yourself at each stage of your life.

Looking for Diversity

Friends,
As I'm starting to get serious about the book I'm working on about women's bodies, it is becoming abundantly clear that I have a large number of beautiful white women and an embarrassingly small number of women of color.  I also have too few older women who've been willing to pose for me.  If you or one of your friends or acquaintances is a bold older woman or woman of color or transgender or any other kind of amazing person who would like to model for me, please get in touch!  I'm located in Richmond, VA, and would love to work with you.

Here is a blog post I posted earlier which describes the modeling process so you'll have a better sense of what you might be getting yourself in for!

We figure out a time that works for both of us.  You come to my studio where I have a beautiful rounded wall in front of which I take the photos.  We talk for a bit about what you would like to get from the session, what your expectations and hopes and desires are.  We make sure we're both comfortable with the setting and situation.  We envision the feelings we might want to evoke.  One woman, for example, wanted to feel her power and her strength.  That showed up in the photos beautifully!

The photography session is a collaboration.  You and I work together to see what evolves.  We are led by each other and some other wonderful creative energy.  I never know what will arise, but I love the process! 

After we're done taking the pictures, we upload them to the computer where we look at them together.  You will have the option of deleting any you may feel uncomfortable with.  You have the option of having pictures with or without your face.  I will not paint your face if you don't want me to!  The process of looking through the photos is often the best part.  It's so wonderful discovering the beauty in each woman and watching as she sees on the screen how beautiful she is.  It's quite powerful for me and empowering for her.  In exchange for the gift of posing for me, I give you a DVD with the images on it for you to use as you wish for your own personal use. 

After you leave, I look through the photos again to find the ones that speak to me directly and demand to be painted.  I play with them in Photoshop, cropping, darkening, adding contrast, etc. so I have just the image that works for me.  If you have requested it, I will send you a copy of the image just to make sure you're comfortable with my painting it.  If you're not, I am very respectful of your choice and will not use it.  If you're OK with it, or don't feel a need to OK it, then my husband and I build a canvas, I gesso it, then I paint it!  Another option is for you to find the image you'd like me to paint of you and for you to commission a painting from me!  It's quite wonderful being able to choose just exactly the picture you'd like of yourself for your home. 

It's a wonderful process and thus far has been quite empowering for the women involved.  Here's what Sherry Tuegel wrote about the process:  (If you'd like to learn more about her, you can go to her website at http://www.love-transforms.com/ )

When my friend told me of Susan Singer’s work I quickly accepted the chance to be photographed nude. A little over a year ago I would have refused and avoided the truthful lens. As I review the amazing pictures Susan has taken I revel in my enjoyment of this body I see so fully exposed. She generously shared all of the pictures with me on disks so I can see each and every angle. Some shots are certainly more becoming than others. The hardest ones for me to see are of me standing where the realities of gravity decorate my body with sags and ripples. I am still working on fully loving the sagging. As I continue loosing weight the sagging will likely become more exaggerated. Sometimes I see the fat laughing Buddha and smile thinking, I am that. What Buddha will emerge next? The roundness that I find becoming will diminish and I will need more acceptance of whatever emerges. I work to accept what I am in each moment. Susan’s camera gave me the opportunity to continue my journey of self love and acceptance. Her tender professionalism made the shoot easy and delightful. I am so grateful for this amazing experience. Thank You and Bless You Susan!

If you'd like to learn more about modeling for me, please email me at SusanSingerArt@msn.com and we can figure out what'll work for us both.  I look forward to meeting you!
Susan

On Becoming a Girl

I had a chance today to work on the piece I began a couple of weeks ago and had been avoiding ever since.  I had a great first day with it then left it on the easel til today.  Why was I avoiding it, you might well ask?  Well!  I had begun it by splashing paint all over and wanted to keep with that looseness, but I couldn't figure out how to do it.  (If you've been reading my blog lately, you'll notice that's been a theme the last few weeks since Thomas's workshop.) 

Today I decided that I wanted to work on it and what it needed was detail work so that the face would look better.  That's not a tricky thing for me to do usually - details are what I do well.  So it went pretty well, and I think she looks better.

I realize that when I've talked about this piece before, I haven't talked about the story behind it at all like I usually do with my models. 

This young woman is, as I suppose is rather obvious if you look at the painting carefully, in the process of changing genders.  She was born male and has come to realize that she feels like a woman so she has decided to go through the process of making her body congruent with her feelings about herself.  I am in awe of her courage.  I think it must be very difficult to feel like you were born in the wrong body then to decide to do something about it, despite all the messages society would inflict about that choice.  I love the strength of her pose in this picture and how clearly and straightforwardly she stares at the viewer, bold, proud, clear.

I wish her many wonderful years as a woman.  May it be exactly as she imagines.