Self-Portrait as Sally McDoogle
Oil on canvas
30×24
Artist’s collection
Self-portrait from graduate school days in the early 70’s.
A personna I tried to adopt during the heady days of the flower children, was that of a strong and independent person, out on her own for the first time and beginning to feel a bit defiant. This was her self portrait.
A new name had to go along with the new personality. I called “her” Sally McDoogle – close to my real name at the time but far enough away so that I could do risky things without being named outright. I sold my artwork under that name for about a half year until I became comfy enough to put my OWN name on the display boards.
Truth be known, I retreat back into the skin of Sally McDoogle an awfully lot lately in order to prove to myself that “I still have it”.
The Andros Hat
Oil on canvas
18×24
Artist’s collection
I got the hat on Andros in the Bahamas in the early 80’s and used it as prop in hopes of making the image more interesting. Hats can be more of a successful time line than hairdos, when giving clues to what date a portrait is done. Just a thought that artists can classicize or romanticize fashions in hair but not as easily fashions and details in the hats their models wear.
Red Head ~ "good work yet unfinished"
Pastel on paper
Framed 26×22
175.
Portrait of an unknown model who sat for a class taught by a wonderful art mentor and friend, Lorraine McCarty.
A generation more senior than I, Lorraine soon because a mentor and woman to be revered. Strange that it took many months for us to discover to our surprise and glee that we both attended the same undergraduate liberal arts woman’s college in Missouri. That seemed to seal the deal. I listened long and hard to Lorraine for several good years. I was a sponge around her, trying to remember and do everything she suggested, especially art wise. But she left me too early, for all of her life lessons to stick with me for very long. I know I would have been a much better artist and person, had she not passed away before she could “tell me everything”.
Lorraine liked the color in this work, Red Head. I kept it and framed it undone as it is, but in many ways, “GOOD WORK YET UNFINISHED” was a lot like my experience with Lorraine.
What Noses Are For
Oil on panel
19×21
Private collection
I totally enjoyed the attitude in this piece and it speaks clearly as to where I was mentally at the millennium. Very close friends wanted What Noses are For and is now in their posession. It is the only self portrait I have chosen to sell, and though I feel deeply connected to all these paintings, I am very comfortable with the fact that with this painting, part of me has gone to a good home.
Awakening, II
Watercolor, pastel and colored pencil
Framed 32 x 40
225.
A self-portrait at the dawning of 2000 — As the new millennium was upon us, a fresh awareness was evident. With more maturity and with empty nesting, it seemed I had stepped through the looking glass, landed over the rainbow and was wakeing to endless possibilities.
Artist as a Miami Beeeech
Pastel
Framed 18 x 22
125.
Another self-portrait done in Marathon Florida when there was no subject matter available that floated my boat. So, I dressed up “the person closest to me at the time” and had her adopt a few crazy personalities for the project. A number of self-portraits as different personas resulted from my few days of personal exploration. Though much more snooty than I really am, I liked being this person, if only for a few hours.
Portrait of the Artist as … Well… Artist
Pastel and conte on paper
Framed 20×23
225
Alone in Marathon, Florida during a heady month-long art immersion, all my fruit for still life had dried up, each flower in the yard had served as subject matter, and then the rains came. I turned the pastels toward the only subject available and started a self-portrait series. After completing a number of them, adopting a different persona for each, the title of James Joyce’s famous novel totally influenced the last in the series … and Self Portrait of the Artist as … Well … Artist was created.
No costume, no gimmick, just how I felt in the moment … strong, droll, independent and fully engaged in artwork.
Portrait of the Artist as … One of New York’s Finest
Pastel on paper
Framed 18 x 21
Artist’s collection
My favorite self-portrait from the Florida art immersion is Portrait of the Artist as One of New York’s Finest. I really enjoyed the work on that piece partially because I believe that faking an expression of silliness and whimsy for that amount of time causes one to eventually adopt that persona … AND …because the story behind the ball cap from NYPD was so special.
Soon after 9-11 a friend in Detroit went to an event where New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was the keynote speaker. At the event, Mayor Giuliani gave the authentic NYPD ball cap to my friend, and when I saw him wearing it, and with 9-11 still painfully fresh on all our minds, I was astounded. So much so, that my friend took the cap off his head and passed it along to ME. I still have it, and consider it a special memento, for many reasons.