Deb Prewitt of Blue Twig Studios started a book club in Jan.
It meets at her shop on the 4th Friday of the month, followed by an
online discussion with those of us that do not live close enough to go to her
shop in Colorado.
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| Mixed-Media Self-Portraits by Cate Caulacos Prato. |
For February, we started reading Mixed-Media Self-Portraits:Inspiration and Techniques by Cate Caulacos Prato.
Many famous artists drew self-portraits. The ones we’re
probably most familiar with are Vincent Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, and Rembrandt
Van Rijn.
Berthe Morisot said “It is important to express oneself…
provided
the feelings are real and taken from your own experience.”
Henry David Thoreau said “I should not talk so much about
myself if there
were anybody else whom I knew so well.”
Self-portraits tell a story. They tell who we are at that
moment in time, what past experiences have shaped us into who we are now, and/or who we would like to become, etc. They
can be whimsical; serious; therapeutic.
The main thing I took away from this first chapter is to
learn to be myself – accept who I am, where I am, and just be creative – just paint/draw/write/journal….. Recapture that joy of drawing we had as
children. Just do it!
Last year, my quilt guild (the Prickly Piecers) did a
self-portrait challenge. Approximately 40% of the members participated. One
member did a triangular shaped profile with leaves and flowers to for eyes,
nose, and mouth and an abundance of flora for her hair. She had been a
landscape artist in a previous life and is now an art quilter, so she combined
the two. Another did a whimsical green witch – she is 80 years old and figured
at her age, she could do what she wanted. A few members took a photo of
themselves and used the posterize filter with 4-5 values in Photoshop to create
a portrait in fabric. One even won a Judge's Choice Award at a quilt show with
his! Another member did several story blocks with each block telling of a milestone in her life, such as birth, childhood, marriage, motherhood, career, and
retirement, and now artist. Another member created a map with all the places
she has lived in her life that have made her who she is today and added brooches and pins that had meaning from
each place she lived. Another person created
a very dark quilt, representing a dark tunnel, to a door in the center that
opened to light. A dragon led a wagon
with a book in it along a path through the tunnel heading to the door. She is the
dragon (as she loves dragons) and has been in a very dark place the last couple
years of her life, but sees the light at the end of the tunnel. The book contained
memories of her life that have kept her sane through the dark tunnel. This
quilt was the most touching of the quilts.
I painted a wholecloth quilt using a photo from when I was
in my 30s (as I feel that age mentally, but I'm actually in my 50's ...physically, some days it's closer to 90ish! LOL!). I drew Zentangles in my multi-colored
hair (actually black with a few well-earned gray strands) to stand for my creativity and artistry. I painted a small
dragon in the air above my head, as I love dragons and think of them as
benevolent, wise creatures. I added a necklace with a dragon pendant, too. (You can see the whole process on my blog here.)
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| "Me, Myself, and I" - 16" x 20" whole cloth painted quilt designed and quilted by Lynnita Knoch |
It was hard to get started, but once I did, I enjoyed it
immensely. Everyone who participated in the challenge had fun creating their
self-portrait. They all said the hard part was getting started. The other hard
part was sharing it in front of everyone.
I think doing a self-portrait is definitely worth the time
and effort to do. I will continue to create self-portraits (now that I have
done one and the earth didn’t stop or fall apart!) periodically to show where I’m
at in my life at the time.
Go make a self-portrait!!
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