Selfie

"Selfie" 4"w x 4"h

I must admit I've never liked the term 'selfie'. Perhaps it's due to the fun poked at people taking photos of themselves and posting them on internet websites such as Facebook. "Oh, so and so takes too many selfies." I prefer the term self portrait. Self portraits are artists' ways of expressing themselves in a given state of emotion, and are frequently very powerful images in of themselves. Photographers take self portraits using special lighting and techniques that express their emotion as well. In art school, I drew a self portrait of myself with a simple twist. Since we were studying life drawing at the time, looking at muscle and skeletal structures in order to be proportionally correct, I drew my face on one side as realistically as possible, and the other side I drew the muscle and skeletal structure. I thought it was pretty cool, but it did freak people out, so I don't think I kept it very long. Long story to say that self portraits are important, and the slang term 'selfie' just doesn't do the self portrait justice. I thought I'd have a little fun with the 'selfie' myself in this painting of a close up female cardinal. She's wanting you to see how pretty she is ... striking a pose in front of a crimson and pink background ... she's even batting her eyelashes, isn't she flattering? I'm sure all her friends will say '"oh, she takes too many selfies." Please contact Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais, MN for more information on this selfie.