Today I'm finally able to take some time to work in the studio again.  The new semester has begun with a bang - that's a good thing!  I have lots of students, plus I'm teaching two evening classes - one in SAT, and one in pastels.  It's fun to be able to use the studio for both purposes.  It's such an awesome space.  I love it that it's so versatile. 

I've begun working on two different canvases.  One of the pictures is of the model for Curves.  It has a lovely dynamism to it that attracts me to it.  When I photographed her, the focus was on her experience of loving her body, feeling empowered and full of positive feelings about her beautiful self.  I think this image evokes that powerfully.  I'm looking forward to painting it.  Its drawn on the canvas already  - I hope to have time to begin painting it soon.

The other canvas is the largest one I've done to date.  It's 6'x4' and is of two full figures with faces.  A couple of months ago I wrote about the experience of photographing a friend of mine with her sister and her sister's daughter.  It was incredibly fun because they were so joyful and fun to be around.  I still smile whenever I think about the session!  I've since learned that some of the laughter may have come from tension - anxiety about posing naked in front of someone they didn't know, not to mention in front of each other! - but I couldn't tell.  They were playful and seemed fully at ease with themselves and each other.  I got some fantastic shots I'm excited about painting.  This first one is of the mother and daughter posing with athletic equipment!  Sounds goofy, right?  The daughter has a raquetball raquet which she is holding like a piece of merchandise on Price is Right, showing it to the audience to entice them to buy it.  Her mom is holding a volleyball and is standing much more solidly on her two feet.  Both are grinning at the camera and are intensely beautiful.  I love the difference in their bodies - it gives a sense of what happens with age - and I love the difference in their stances.  It is such a completely weird picture, I'm very excited about painting it.  I'm working on transferring it to the canvas today.  It's a long process because it's so large.  I have a feeling that this picture will take a long time to paint because there are so many details - 4 hands, 4 feet, 2 wonderfully smiling faces with teeth (very challenging to paint!), not to mention the strings of the racquetball racquet!  What was I thinking??!!  Oh yeah - that this is a fabulous picture and I can't wait to paint it!

So here I go...
Check back for progress!