self 2005

I've been invited to have a display in the local library in Little Current for the month of February and have decided to show some early paintings.  Several were in my parents' condo and those along with a few others from our own collection make a decent show of 15 paintings, all of them featuring one or two of our four children, dated from 1981 until 2002.

While doing this search, I came across two self portraits from 2005.  I have never shown this one before. The other one ...click here.   These seemed to mark a turning point.  Both paintings are about identity.

In 2005, after 27 years of being a mother-artist, I had an empty nest.  I had grown in my art as much as the kids had grown up and flown off.   In 2006, I went back to school and that adventure has been well documented on this blog.  In 2012, I graduated with a degree in embroidered textiles at the age of 61.  

The penciled text in the upper corner of this painting is by Salman Rushdie

"...each of us is many different people. Our younger selves differ from our older selves; we can be bold in the company of our lovers and timorous before our employers, principled when we instruct our children and corrupt when offered some secret temptation, we are serious and frivolous, loud and quiet, aggressive and easily abashed.  And yet, unless we are damaged, or deranged, we usually have a relatively clear sense of who we are.  I agree with my many selves to call them all me."