The Bootylicious Diva Muse

O. 3 August 2008 Art, Savvy Sundays | Comments

I have always loved shoes and, one of my very first major paintings features a shoe and purse with all of the contents spilling out. It really described my life at the time. Come to think of it, it really describes my life now.

I am posting the Falling Purse painting because the shoe series stems from it in many ways. When I first decided to paint this painting, I had just changed colleges and I was being introduced to a whole new Art Department run almost entirely by women. It was a wonderful experience, but not without its own bit of rockiness at the beginning.

Prior to attending this school, I attended a school that focused primarily on teaching the students technique and not much else. I had not yet been exposed to the idea of painting to convey a message or expressing hidden meanings or telling a life story through painting. When I arrived at the new school, everyone was so “DEEP” and I was just me. And some of the students there did not take me very seriously.

We had the assignment of creating a still life, and mine was the subject matter of my life falling out of my purse. On the surface, very frivolous subject matter and some of the other students did not hesitate to convey their feelings about my choices. We have all had things happen to us in our past and many of us face many challenges on a daily basis, but I was not well versed in airing my dirty laundry in that way. One young lady was painting ultra realistic paintings and did not think any other type of art was relevant, another felt the need at one point in the semester to paint a representation of her miscarriage, and a third painted all things 9/11 because this was shortly after the tragedy, and here I was painting a purse, lipstick, fingernail polish, and a shoe.

The funny part of all of this, is that the painting was an exact representation of who I was at the time. I was an art student, Army Wife and mother of two elementary aged kids. The painting depicts exactly that. It didn’t have to be any deeper than that or any more relevant because it is what I wanted to say as an artist. It is to date my favorite painting.

Here are two of my rough shoe sketches that will eventually end up as paintings.

I eventually began to fit in at the school just by being myself. Several of the ladies became good friends and people began to appreciate me for me. And although I went on to paint what some would term more “serious” art, here I am again, painting shoes and lipstick and girly things, because that makes me happy, I like seeing those things and just as the bad things in my life are very much a part of me, the pretty things are too. And frankly, I would just rather focus on the good, the beautiful, the colorful, and the things that make me feel good. And I would rather leave the other not-so-good stuff for another time and another place.

I know that this Savvy Sunday post is not the usual fare. No tips on how to know if you are dealing with a player or how to catch that guy. But I think it is still a very important topic that has to do with who we are as people. Yes, I have talked about my art and who I am as an artist, but I would like to think that I am speaking to the bigger picture of life in general.

It doesn’t matter what pressures you face, or if you like things that other people may not, or if you want to paint flowers, race cars, stay at home with your kids, or be a big bootylicious freak. It is your life. The savviest tip I can give you is to be yourself no matter what. People may bristle or judge at first, but eventually they have no choice but to either accept or reject you. Either way, you will still be who you are meant to be. You! And you will still be being true to yourself.

Now that, my dears, is the most bootylicious thing of all.

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