Self- Portrait 2009

A Blank Canvas

I thought it might be interesting to share a photograph of the beginning of my self portrait figure before any altering occurs. At the time I took this picture the only thing I had done was shaved the doll’s head – something I’ve often thought of doing to my own head on those mornings when I wake up with ‘bad hair day syndrome’. The hair on the doll had that all too familiar bed-head look… and who has time for that?

There certainly was something about the vacant expression on her face that appealed to me, that and the fact her body was constructed of fabric just said ‘blank canvas’ to me. It made complete sense to begin by painting her torso with fabric paints in a wonderful copper penny colour. Although this gave the appearance of an undergarment, I proceeded to design an entire wardrobe for my figure, beginning with a corset. As the design ideas progressed I developed a colour scheme of copper, black, and blue for the costume. I was also working towards a theme based on TIME:                       time is of the essence;  time is money;  not enough time in the day;  it’s about time;  time for me;  making good use of time;  pressures of time;  time travel; party time…

Now was the right time to call on my muse to deliver a special stardust sprinkling of glittery moments of time that could be spent creating wonderful works of art. This seems like the perfect gift to give myself at a time when I feel as though I’m just spinning my wheels in the quagmire of creative frustration. I’m hoping that when she’s finished this beautiful little figure will stand as a powerful reminder that it’s alright to make ART a priority and that when I spend any time creating, it is always time well spent and  makes me happy.