The Many Layers of Frida - Part 4

It's been a lovely rainy morning in Austin, Texas. I opened the windows, made some tea (over and over), and painted to my heart's delight. Just outside the window by my easel, a sweet little squirrel was on a mission. He ran to right below the window sill, grabbed something, an then dashed out in the rain to a bush. He did it over and over and over. I suspect that precious little guy is fully stocked up for winter by now. Hope he remembers where he buried his goodies when the time comes.


I was able to finish this painting this morning. I think I finally found the whimsy I was looking for when I started this project. It dove into a deeper level than I'd expected, but this morning I found myself returning to the bright colors and fantastical land that I find so appealing. And having completed this wonderful taster for the year-long class I was considering, I've decided that I will definitely be signing up for it. I'm so excited to start in January!

Here is the finished painting and below are a number of stages leading up to it.

"The Many Layers of Frida"

I painted the hanging ornaments and added
white accents to the thorns.

I added a reflection to the ornaments, darkened
the canvas on the left of her cape, and added
some whimsical dots to the side of her neck and head.

This shows the dots, the writing on her chest/neck
and that she is, in fact, smiling. When I look at the
photos of the painting as a whole it's hard for me
to see that expression on her face...but there it is!

I added more whimsical dots and some flowers
at the bottom of her cape. The flowers and dots
are reminiscent of my early art work. Fun!
I also added more yellow here and there.

I outlined the flowers and leaves with white.

I added stars. I kept staring at this piece knowing
it was missing something and the stars were it!

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The Many Layers of Frida - Part 3

Our silly big cat, Pug, has been unfaithful. Yes, he's been seeing other neighbors. Not in his usual way where he walks up to people strolling down the street and begs to be petted. Nope. He's been sleeping on a neighbor's porch and begging for their love, attention, and food.

Lucky for us they're friends of ours and they came over to make sure all was well here and let us know about our sweet big boy. My theory? Pug is mad at us because we've been keeping him and Tommy locked in at night to protect them from the roaming coyotes. Can't exactly explain that to Pug, so he's made himself comfortable elsewhere. "That'll show 'em!"

Tonight I had my little guy go retrieve Pug from our neighbor's porch and when they arrived I gave Pug canned cat food. Yes, my plan is to spoil him rotten to compensate for the nightly lock-ins. And maybe, just maybe, he'll get back to his old faithful self.


I continued working on my Frida collage. My goodness this is thought provoking and wonderful! I love that it's got a self portrait vibe with a fabulous Frida twist.

I added white to parts of the canvas and
then I spread it thin with the edge of
a small piece of watercolor paper.

I decided I wanted her neck thinner. Frida
portrayed herself with a long thin neck
and I wanted to emulate that. I also added
a crown of flowers in her hair and added
white accents to her hair.

After I'd taken some of the brightness away
with the white I decided I wanted some
brightness back. I also embellished the cape
with a heart as I thought when it's exposed
on the outside it shows vulnerability.
I gave her buttons connected by cord
that echoed Frida's spine.

The thorned vines are both protection
and clear boundaries. They show an exterior
that is hard to penetrate, but it is decorated
perhaps to show a softening of the edges,
perhaps to honor the purpose of the vines.

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The Many Layers of Frida - Part 2

I had a bit of time to continue working on this painting tonight. I'm loving how she's still Frida, but a new version. Part of this project is working through some feelings. My own, not Frida's, though she's a part of it as well. I don't know this for sure, but I think of Frida as being someone who was alone a lot (I should research this). She certainly explored her feelings and conveyed them through her art and she also explored her physical being and laid that down on canvas as well. As I was working on her face and thinking of this piece I thought of my own feelings, too. My introvertedness that dictates so much of my life, my passion for alone time to recharge, and my challenges when faced with things and events out of my comfort zone. Painting is my solace as I imagine it was hers. I think this is my favorite quote of hers.

“I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it's true I'm here, and I'm just as strange as you.”

Yup!

I started with her face and hair. I sketched out
how I wanted her face to be (different than the
original photograph). I wanted her eyes perhaps
a bit brighter and her smile a bit upturned. I
absolutely wanted to keep her intensity.

I added splashes of color to the background and
began defining what will be her dress or
whatever she will be wearing.

I added some writing. A quote of Frida's and
some of my own thoughts.

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The Many Layers of Frida - Part 1

I received a tutorial in my email a couple of days ago. It was a taste of a year-long class I'm strongly considering taking next year. The tutorial is for a collage and painting piece. After doing my Van Gogh and Kahlo paintings I felt I was up for a bit of a break. But what did I end up deciding to use as my focus? Yup, Frida Kahlo. As I was going through images I found flowers that reminded me of her. I found a fence that made me think of her spine. Even the flowers in some of Van Gogh's paintings reminded me of her as she wore them so beautifully in her hair. So, Frida it is. I hope to make this more of a whimsical piece than my last one. I understand that Frida had a wicked sense of humor and loved to laugh. That's what I want to portray. I'm super excited!


Here's my start. I got the collaging done and I'm hopeful that the next thing on the tutorial is painting...we'll see!

Note: I'm using other artists and photographers' work, but it is only for inspiration as I will be painting over all of it.

A canvas I'd dripped with leftover paint from a
previous painting called out to me. Yes, it said,
"Pick me! Pick me! Paint me! Paint me!"
I found a number of pieces to compose my
collage. Some from the web and some from a
1963 plant encyclopedia I'd gotten several years
ago to use for just such projects.

I lay the pieces out on the canvas. I love the
gathering of Van Gogh, Kahlo, Matisse, and
lovely garden photos.

I used matte medium to stick it to a canvas.
It's on my easel and ready for the next step!!!

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Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

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