A Sampling of Oil & Mirror
Inevitability (or Sea Serpent), 48x60, oil & mirror
Frenzy
24x20 oil & mirror
24x20 oil & mirror
Koi Pond triptych
12x36 oil & mirror - SOLD
Herrlein's Eve
48x72, oil & mirror Offers considered Showing now at the Andersonville Galleria I've been asked the story behind Herrlein's Eve. A few years ago, I was asked if I would ever paint another Lilith, and while I was considering it, I realized it was much more intriguing for me to paint a new story, a different larger-than-life female. I tossed around Valkyries (Brunnhilde), the sirens, Venus, Salome, Persephone, Medusa, Diana, mermaids…. but I kept coming back to Eve and the lush garden of Eden. I love painting greens and I envisioned some rich green/blue hues. I was in Malta at the time and the sea was inspiring a color palette and I was toying with several designs… Then the police contacted me. A former older acquaintance whose advances and demands I had politely refused, had posted a series of vicious comments on my social media pages. Her threats had once again become actions that had them concerned for my safety when I returned to the US. Of course, my design for Eve took a different turn… it grew darker. I thought about how too quickly and easily it is for some people to turncoat and scapegoat others for their own disappointments in life. And it became clear to me that this person's one particularly nasty turn of phrase ("you're just a convenient wet hole for all") was significant for the Eve story: after all, hasn't Eve just been a convenient excuse for all mankind? Blaming a single female for genesis of sin? I painted her into the canvas. I painted her husband, who started it all. I painted Eve with all the attributes they derided me for, the full-figured hips and breasts, the tiny feet, the gag order he tried to impose on me. I painted in representations of famous works of art that were censored as "too erotic" or "sinful." I painted in the hateful words she wrote on my social media. And yes, in grief and frustration, I painted their names. |