Questions?

For each month of 2008, I'm completing a series of paintings that relate to a specific motif. For example, January's motif is "Questions." That means that each week of this month I'll complete a small painting that relates to that idea. My first painting asked, "Am I forgetting something?" which is a question I ask a lot. And since I usually forget my keys, my bus pass or my cell phone, those were the things I included in the painting.

This week I'm asking "What time is it?" So obviously, I'm painting my watch. I'm pleasantly surprised with the results so far, though I still have a good chance at messing up. I'll let you know how it turns out.

And since Thursdays in our studio usually start with an art history discussion, I've decided that Thursday posts will feature a favorite artist. This week-- Berthe Morisot.

Morisot was beautiful, talented and professionally successful. She married "well" (her brother-in-law was Edouard Manet) and was respected professionally by the other Impressionists. I love the emotion of her paintings, but I'm mostly impressed with her life. She was always determined to be an Artist (with a capital A) in an age when women weren't supposed to be determined about anything. Yet, she still balanced her career and her family with a success that few women find even today.

She wasn't dramatic or harpy. She wasn't a rebel. She lived very quietly in middle class Paris, first as a daughter then as a wife and mother. She received visitors and threw parties and fulfilled all the societal obligations of nineteenth century France. But she also committed herself to her painting without wavering. And not only to painting, but to a completely new and original idea of what painting should be. She was true to her own voice.

It is important to express oneself... provided the feelings are real and are taken from your own experience. -- Berthe Morisot


Real painters understand with a brush in their hand. --Berthe Morisot