Neighbour Norm had said that someone had made a comment about my recent spate of paintings, predominately male since doing the murals of Elsie Yanik and Dorothy McDonald, that I should be doing more strong and inspired women. Guilty as charged; I've always leaned toward painting men, though a few amazing ladies pop up in my repertoire going back over the last 15 years: Marilyn Monroe, Maya Angelou, Billie Holiday and most recently, Katy Perry. However, the truth is that the vast majority have been men.
So, I put the question out on Facebook yesterday evening, after finishing up my portrait of Elvis Presley. The response was immediate and incredible.
As of right now, the post has ignited 124 comments, mostly, though not exclusively, from women. There appears to be a pent up desire to honour and celebrate the incredible women who have changed the world, and in some cases, brought us into the world.
So, for today's blog post I'm going to start an inventory of images based on the suggestions that came in. You'll probably will begin to see what kinds of compositions capture my eye.
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| Mother Theresa |
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| My beautiful wife Heather Thomas |
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| Maya Angelou |
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| Emily Carr |
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| Malala Yousafzai |
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| Coco Chanel |
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| Oprah Winfrey |
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| Meryl Streep |
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| Audrey Hepburn |
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| Ellen Degeneres |
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| Margaret Thatcher |
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| Melissa Blake |
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| Helen Keller |
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| Billie Holiday |
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Annette Doré
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Each one of these grabs my soul in some way. My process is pretty simple: I print out a black and white copy of the subject photo and tack it up on idea boards in my shop/studio. When I have time to paint, I pick the one that "speaks" to me in that moment.
Thanks for all the suggestions. Keep them coming!
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