A portrait - from embarrassing to not too bad

I went up to DC yesterday to work with Rob Vander Zee.  He's a very good teacher.  He has a school two days a week in which he gives demos and individual instruction.  I feel like I learn a lot from him each time I work with him.

Yesterday I took a piece I'd started on a while back and had given up on because it was so awful.  I had decided to work on an old canvas so I painted over the old painting with a mixture of palette mud and pumice, thinking I might draw with pastels rather than paint.  Then I changed my mind and decided to paint, but my goodness!  The canvas was horrific.  It was like trying to drag a brush through dry sand.  I couldn't get it to work on teh canvas. It was terrible.  Despite that, I was pretty determined so I perservered, but I just couldn't get the painting to work.  It is a gorgous portrait of Valley, the model I've been collaborating with for the upcoming show Artists and Writers at Randolph Macon (opening Feb 20), and I love the image, so I was excited to do the painting.  I started using the method Rob had taught me, loosely, lightly, using Galkyd for glaze.  That stuff REALLY didn't like the surface I'd created!  Also, in choosing to work lightly and loosely, I went at the face with an approximation of how it should look, not being persnickety and exacting, figuring I would go back into it and refine it later.  That is NOT a good way to do a face!

The first part was fine - the bathing suit turned out nicely.  Her hair looks good.  I grided in her face so I would have guidelines to work with.

And now at the risk of embarrassing myself completely, I'll post the first rendition of her face.  It was horrible!  Poor thing, she looks like one of those dessicated faces made out of dried apples.  Sorry, Valley!

Quite discouraged, I painted over her face and put the canvas aside for a couple of months.  My son and husband kept coming out to the studio though and commenting on the piece and saying they really liked her hair and her bathing suit and that I should work on it some more.  NO.  Too discouraged.

Until Monday night when I was trying to figure out what to take to DC the next day.  My printer is totally wrecked so I can't print out any photos right now, so I had to work on something I already had a photo for.  I decided to be bold and brave and to try working on this picture again. 

When I got up there I gridded the face again so I could do it with a lot of accuracy.  Then I began painting.  It was helpful to have Rob there to point out when I was headed off in the wrong direction.  I did all the features with great detail until he suggested I soften all the lines, and blur the ones between her teeth.  That was very helpful.

I managed to make some very good progress on her face and came home feeling like perhaps it wasn't a completely lost cause.

This afternoon I worked on a few things on her face then re-painted her arm and bathing suit so the colors were in harmony with her face which was no longer lavender.  Now it's feeling close to finished, and I'm not so embarrassed to show the darn thing in public!  I think I need to work on her eyes a bit more but otherwise it may be close to done.  I know it doesn't look 100% like Valley, but I think most people who know her would know that's what I had in mind.  I hope so at least!  Portraits are not easy to paint.  It's significantly easier just to paint a body with no hands or feet or face!!

As I've mentioned off and on during the last few weeks, I have a lot of stuff brewing these days - classes, workshops, exhibitions, etc.  I thought it might be helpful to have a list of the information in case you're interested in attending any of them (I hope you will!)

Here's the list along with links and info on how to sign up.

Lecture:

Red Tent Meeting, Thursday January 6^th, 7:30 – 8:30 PM, At Illumination, 109 W. 15th St. Richmond, VA, 23224.

A fabulous opportunity to gather with women to talk about women's bodies and other issues near and near to us.  I’ll be talking about my work, and showing images, then we’ll all have a chance to share stories about our bodies and how we feel about them.  Follow the link to sign up, or just show up that night!

Classes:

Beginning Pastels, Tuesdays for 6 weeks beginning January 11, 6:30 – 9:00 PM, Visual Arts Center, Richmond. 

A wonderful opportunity to learn to draw with pastels, a lovely, forgiving, juicy medium, perfect for beginners!  Sign up online or call 353-0094.

Naked Self Portraiture:  Drawing Inward to Draw Outward, Fridays every other week, beginning February 11, 7 – 9:30 PM, Khalima’s Dance Studio (for women only). 

Part exploration of the soul, part exploration of the body, this class will give you time and permission to see yourself as you truly are with loving eyes.  We’ll draw and paint and sculpt with simple materials like Playdoh and finger paint, easy for the inexperienced artist and challenging enough for  the professional artist as well.  We’ll go inward through Authentic Movement and guided meditation to find the essence of who we are outwardly on the inside.  Come prepared to disrobe, to explore, to laugh, and to discover richly, deeply your own gorgeous self, inside and out.

Body Shop: An exploration of the body through image and word.  Friday, February 25, 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM, my studio on Southside Richmond.  Co-led by Valley Haggard

What messages do we tell ourselves about our bodies? Are our perceptions accurate? Do the words we use to describe our own bodies - or the bodies of other women - promote our happiness or keep us stuck in judgment and self-recrimination? Through the processes of drawing, writing and sharing, we will explore the impact that our body image has on our inner and outer lives. In this intensive three-and-a-half hour workshop, we will gently but honestly uncover how we really feel about the woman beneath our clothes. 

Intermediate Pastel Drawing, Tuesdays for 6 weeks beginning March 15, 6:30 – 9:00 PM, Visual Arts Center, Richmond. 

Bring your own project to work on in a supportive, instructive atmosphere.  Excellent for those with some experience with pastels already.  Sign up online or call 353-0094.

Exhibits

Celebrate Gay Marriage, Foundry Gallery, Washington, DC, January 5 – 29, 2011, opening reception January 8, 6:00 – 8:00 PM. My piece Susie Kissing Sally will be on display there.

Artists and Writers, Flippo Gallery, Randolph Macon College, Ashland, VA, February 18 – April 1, 2011, Opening Reception, February 20, 3:00 – 5:00 PM.  4 pairs of writers and artists including Valley Haggard and I will be displaying our collaborative efforts at the Flippo Gallery in Ashland.  Valley will have a piece in Belle Magazine in February telling about our combined efforts and how being painted nude has changed her life.

Fruits and Veggies, Bon Air Library, Richmond, VA, March 1 – 30, 2011.  Exhibit of pastel drawings of fruits and vegetables.  No nudity allowed in the publically-funded sphere, so I’ll show my fruits instead!

 Solo Exhibit (as yet unnamed), Petersburg Regional Arts Center, April 6 – May 9, Opening Reception, April 8, 7:00 – 9:00 PM.  A small collection of my female nudes at this lovely art center in the heart of downtown Petersburg.

All Fleshed Out (working title), Crossroads Art Center, September 19 – November 1, 2011, Opening Reception September 23, 6:30 – 9:30.  A gigantic exhibition of my paintings and drawings of Female Nudes, Transgender Nudes, and experiential activities highlighting how we feel about our bodies.


I hope you'll join me for some of these many rich experiences.  I'm excited about all that is happening and look forward to sharing the joy and excitement from each in the months to come!

The progression of Valley coming out of the red chair.

I got to work on the painting of Valley Haggard today, yet another piece for our collaboration at Randolph Macon's Flippo Gallery this February.  I think it's starting to look pretty good.  There's lots left to do, but I got a good start on her face and on the body.  I need to match up the colors in each!

I've pasted in pictures of it at various stages because I think it's fun to see how a painting develops.  At this point I need to refine the color and the form on her body.  I need to darken the shadow behind the chair.  I need to paint her ear and her necklace.  I need to match the colors in her face and body.

I don't think I'll be able to paint today because I have a lot of tutoring students coming.  This week isn't going to be about painting.  It'll be about finishing up my work as a tutor with integrity and joy.  This is my last week of tutoring after 23 years of it.  I feel some sadness about leaving behind what I've known for so long, but mostly I feel exhilaration about where I'm going.

Each and every day I am finding new opportunities to teach about women's body image.  Tomorrow if I have time, I'll post a list of the various classes, workshops and lectures I'll be offering in the new year.  It is growing daily.  Plus I get to paint!  Life is incredibly full of promise right now.

Legal in Virginia - topless sunbathing - with one tiny caveat

Legal in Virginia

Valley Haggard and I gave a presentation and did some exercises at a Women's Group a couple of weeks ago.  It was great talking to a group of women about our work together.  (I've photographed and painted and drawn her, and she's written about the experience.  Our collaboration will be part of the show Artists and Writers coming up at Randolph Macon College in February 2011.) 

In the course of the discussion, one of the women, who has recovered from breast cancer, told us something which is so absurdly ridiculous as to be hysterical.  She got a double mastectomy then had breast reconstruction surgery but chose not to have nipples tattooed on.  Her surgeon told her that she may legally go topless in the state of Virginia now because she wouldn't be showing her nipples.

True story.