Self-Portraits

In my experience self-portraits are tricky and not easy to execute. It amazes me how others readily observe what we look like as well as all our little mannerisms and tics while most of us are often clueless. How often have you looked at a photo and reacted with "I don't look like that!" When it comes to seeing ourselves it's really hard not to be myopic. After all, we're looking from the inside out. Through the years I've attempted to create portraits of myself. None of them worth completing ... all were scrapped.

The closest I had come was a portrait of the inner me and that was accidental. As this piece neared completion, I felt the patches of colors reflected how I perceived myself.

Patchwork Perspective - 1993
36"x36"(point-point)

The light sunny colors represent my optimism, while the cool stable ones reflect my surface serenity. Tucked under these two are the strong hot colors of emotionalism. And then there's the dark corner of personal history I don't think about or have forgotten. But then, there's the fading, but still present (a lot more so at the time this was created) emotional pain lingering in the purples. It was almost titled, "Pieces of Me". To read more about and see close up photos of this art piece go here.

Finally, I've created a self-portrait piece that's worth keeping. It was prompted by the January challenge for the "Interpret This" group. Because of my past failures, this particular challenge almost made me change my decision about being part of the group. But then, I don't back off commitments easily so I took on the challenge.

Today is the beginning for reveals of the self-portraits made by my fellow members of
Rian and Libby are the first to post. Tomorrow, the 28th, Kay and Judith will post theirs. Friday, the 29th, Karen and I will be on. Then you will see what I did with these glasses.
Go back to the "Interpret This" site on the 30th to see Debra's and Beverly's and on the 31st to view Beena's and Kim's reveals. While you're there, please leave a comment with your reaction and observation of each person's revelation(s) in the tricky task of meeting this particular challenge. I'm very much looking forward to seeing how the other's interpreted this.