An Invisible Woman
"Reality: My light shines from within"
self-portrait
mixed media
on 8 x 10 canvas board
Here's #3 in my series of invisible woman self-portraits. (See #1 here, and #2 here.)
I love how this one turned out! It's a dark, rainy day here today, so I had some trouble with the quality of the photos, but if you click on the images, you can get an idea of the textures and colors. The human image is highly textured with modeling paste, which I applied and sculpted with a palette knife. Many rich acrylic colors were applied and rubbed in, and then the human image was finished with a satin varnish. The background was finished with a matte varnish.
I love how this one turned out! It's a dark, rainy day here today, so I had some trouble with the quality of the photos, but if you click on the images, you can get an idea of the textures and colors. The human image is highly textured with modeling paste, which I applied and sculpted with a palette knife. Many rich acrylic colors were applied and rubbed in, and then the human image was finished with a satin varnish. The background was finished with a matte varnish.
(detail)
When I started this piece, I had only a vague idea where I was going with it. It was a lot like life. After I had painted for a while, I stepped back to look at the human figure, and I loved all layers of colors, all the nooks and crannies, the glowing heart and mind, and the glow emanating from the figure.
It looked like my life feels. Full of ups and downs, dark and light. Rich and full and, ultimately, immensely satisfying.
It looked like my life feels. Full of ups and downs, dark and light. Rich and full and, ultimately, immensely satisfying.
(detail)
I feel incredibly beautiful, powerful and wise after working on this series. Totally comfortable with my place in life. And very optimistic about my future. I do not reflect what others think about me. I know my self-worth with every fiber of my being. My feelings of self-worth come from inside me, from deep within my heart, mind and soul.
Now I can finally move on to some other ideas and pieces of art, because I feel like I've worked through something powerful and important.
While I was working on this series, I was also looking for quotes about older women. I was a bit distressed to find many where older women are referred to in a negative way: ugly, evil, witches, etc. It's like the quotes were all taken from the time of Shakespeare. But I was finally able to find quite a few terrific quotes about older women, by older women. And really, who knows best what an older woman really has to offer? Another older woman, of course, and perhaps a few enlightened men.
So here are some terrific quotes about women, by women.
"I have enjoyed greatly the second blooming that comes when you finish the life of the emotions and of personal relations: and suddenly find - at age fifty, say - that a whole new life has opened before you, filled with things you can think about, study, or read about. . . It is as if fresh sap of ideas and thoughts was rising in you.
~ Agatha Christie
"We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations."
~ Anais Nin
"So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why doesn't somebody wake up to the beauty of old women?"
~ Harriet Beecher Stowe
"First you are young; then middle-aged; then you are old; then you are wonderful."
~ Lady Diana Cooper
"The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been."
~ Madeleine L'Engle
"One sign of passing youth is the birth of a sense of fellowship with other human beings as we take our place among them."
~ Virginia Woolf
"Time and trouble will tame an advanced young woman, but an advanced old woman is uncontrollable by any earthly force."
~ Dorothy L. Sayers
"The most creative force in the world is the menopausal woman with zest."
~ Margaret Mead
I was going to also add the poem "Phenomenal Woman" by Maya Angelou here, but the phenomenal Marion at Dragonfly's Poetry and Prolixity already did it on her wonderful blog (here) so please be sure to stop by her blog to read this wonderful poem about what it means to be a phenomenal, ripe and luscious woman.
And, finally, some wise words for any of us, at any age:
"Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
~ Eleanor Roosevelt
I'm feeling good about where I am in my journey through life, and I hope you are, too, no matter what your age.
Hugs,
Angela
