Perception: As relevant as yesterday's newspaper

An Invisible Woman
"Perception: As relevant as yesterday's newspaper"
self-portrait
mixed media
on 8 x 10 canvas board

First I'd like to thank everyone for their comments and reactions to my first Invisible woman self-portrait (here). I really enjoyed reading your reactions. My intention was to leave the interpretation of the painting open, because I think art should stir up something different and personal in each individual, rather than having each brush stroke and symbol neatly explained.

Many of you saw things in the painting that I didn't notice until you pointed them out. I love that!

This painting is the second in a series of 3 that I have been working on. The background is a busy and garishly colorful crazy-quilt design, while the image of the woman is a generic symbol of a woman cut out of an old newspaper.

An invisible woman
"Perception: As relevant as yesterday's newspaper"
(detail)

If you click on the detail photo, you may be able to see something I found amusing. The circle which I used for the head was originally meant to be the other side of the paper. But as I was about to apply it to the painting, it slipped from my hand and fell onto the painting upside down. The only readable word on this side of the paper was "older," so I decided to leave that side up. Another happy accident.

While doing this piece, I was reminded of one of my favorite Georgia O'Keeffe quotes:

"I found I could say things
with color and shapes
that I couldn't say
in any other way. . .
things I had no words for."

I must apologize if I haven't been to visit your blog as often as I'd like, or if I haven't responded yet to a comment you have left. I'll try to do better in the future. Please forgive me. I've been terribly busy and inspired in so many different creative directions, I feel a bit like Emily Dickinson when she wrote:

"To live is so startling
it leaves little time
for anything else."