Georgia O'Keeffe

I've never made any bones about the fact that I can't stand Georgia O'Keeffe; not the woman, per se, but rather her work. And I've always had a fairly detailed outline in my head of her life and who she was as a human being, despite my dislike of her paintings, so I thought I knew her pretty well. But recently I saw a biographical film of her that was incredibly well-written and beautifully shot, itself a piece of art and not your typical run-of-the-mill, movie of the week type fare. It left me more impressed with the woman than I've ever been before. I thought, 'What the hell, maybe now that I have a deeper perspective on her personality, maybe -just maybe- if I give her art another go, I might find I like it.' Nope. Not a chance! I still despise every last one of those steer skulls, New Mexico pieces and all those hideous labial flowers (though I don't mind some of her earliest drawings). Hell, I tried. I really did.

I liken this to Stephen King's book "The Shining" vs Stanley Kubrick's film version of the same. So many people have such strong opinions on this subject (King included) and feel that the book and this movie cannot ever be reconciled with one another. I have no problem with this whatsoever: for me the two are completely separate entities and both can and do stand equally on their own. I can love and admire both. Likewise, Georgia O'Keeffe and her art, can for me be two entirely separate realities fully independent of one another: one I love and admire and the other I utterly loathe.

Blue Flower, 1918

Self Portrait With Hat

I've grown tired of drawing myself with short hair, in a mirror, over and over again so to mix things up a bit I dug out a photo of myself from a couple of years ago when I still had (very) long hair. Man, do I miss that hair!

Self Portrait With Hat, graphite on paper, 2011 (full view and detail)

Portrait Ads

Young Griffin

A portrait of Griffin as a child (see "Griffin," December 30, 2010 for a portrait of him as an adult). His eyes were really odd in the photo I used for this drawing and I just couldn't seem to get them right. He had, and still has, amazingly thick and lustrous eyelashes that any girl would kill to have, thus his looking as though he was wearing mascara and eyeliner. And I think he might have had a sinus thing on that particular picture day, which would account for the terrible puffiness around his eyes. Regardless, I draws 'em as I sees 'em.

Portrait of Griffin as a Child, graphite on champagne colored paper, 2011 (full view and detail)

Portrait of a Cat, Again

Another portrait of Maia Louise, this time in nearly three-quarter profile and again, much larger than life. Oddly, I'm seldom asked to do drawings of cats. I have no idea why this is. Maybe because people love their dogs more. Who knows?

Portrait of Maia Louise, graphite on paper, 2011 (detail)

Baby Self Portrait

I found (after not knowing for some time where all those baby photos from that photo shoot were) a version of the old photo of me used in the Big Lippie Brand collage in the right sidebar and decided to do a smallish portrait of myself from it. Oddly, I found it tough to get the big lippie right. Go figure.

Portrait of Victoria as a Baby, graphite on paper, 2011, (full view and detail)

Two Paper Quilts

I've been in my cellar re-packing and organizing the stored boxes and crates that contain my entire studio and found a few stray experimental works; an idea that proved at the time to be a creative dead end for me. Here are two paper quilts made many years ago and until about a week ago, long, long forgotten. I haven't a clue where I was going with this idea, but all the photographs in these works are of my actual female ancestors. Despite their vivid colors, as works of art these really do suck, but I remember how much I loved the time spent pondering all those ladies who came before me in my clan.

The Good Wife, mixed media on paper, 2006 (?, perhaps earlier)
Love Letter, mixed media on paper, 2006 (?, perhaps earlier)

A Brief Hiatus

I've been post-less for almost two weeks now due to a family crisis and most likely won't be back for some time to come (hopefully not too long though). There is just no way, given the circumstances I am dealing with, that I can focus enough to actually write something worth reading. I hope you'll bear with me during this difficult time and will still be here waiting for me when I return. Take care and much peace to you all!

Ugly Self Portrait

This sketch has actually made some people, upon seeing it, physically flinch and ask why the hell I made myself look like this. It's truly hideous, due to drawing myself in very bad lighting late at night. I didn't set out to make a drawing of me looking gaunt and hollowed out with deep facial crevices, black circles beneath my eyes, and a face that's horribly narrow, but that's what you get when you use severely unflattering overhead lighting in the wee hours and you really don't care. Beauty? Not so much, but character to beat the band, if you think those faces in the opening montage of Night Gallery way back when have "character." Clearly that's the image I'm channeling here. Give me some more bad lighting and cue the spooky music!

Ugly Self Portrait, graphite on paper, 2011

Art of the Americas Wing

Last month I finally managed to get to the new Art of the Americas Wing at the MFA and it's taken me the few weeks since to form a conclusion about it all. I know that seems rather ridiculous, but it's more complicated than simply liking it or not liking it.

At first, I didn't like it at all and I wasn't sure if this was based solely on the fact that I don't do change well. Hell, I've had literally decades to adjust to the slow and steady changes the MFA has been undergoing- the better part of my life thus far- and I'm still not ready for them. So I thought my dislike of the new galleries and the layout of the exhibits within them was simply due to my inability to adjust to anything new. I did like the gallery that is a perfect recreation of a 19th century European salon, a wonderful experience and so different from what the contemporary gallery or museum visitor sees. And while it's no longer nearly as extensive as the original galleries full of period rooms and furniture, the fact that the MFA has reinstalled several of them (and in much more accurate detail than those previous) is a joy. But the rest? Sigh. The mixing and matching of various items created within a time period or genre, all displayed together within a gallery, didn't always thrill me. In some of the galleries it just seemed to be too much. I was even less than happy with the Sargent Gallery, which really surprised me. I mean, who would have ever thought I wouldn't be ecstatic to have an entire gallery devoted to Sargent? Trust me, no one was more shocked than I at this revelation.

However, given a little time to ruminate on it, I'm finding myself less and less appalled by it all. Do I wish I could go back to the MFA of my childhood? The MFA I knew every stairwell and corner of with my eyes closed? Of course, because that's just my nature. But I also know that everything must change, including my most beloved (and familiar) institutions. And I know that eventually I'll most likely grow fond of this new version of the MFA, but it's going to take time. Possibly even decades. Just be gentle with me and let me ease my way into this new and unfamiliar world of art.