Self Portraits are the Most Revealing of All

An artist named Abbey's self portrait

I haven’t done one yet, but I believe that when artists create their own personal self-portrait you can learn a lot about them. Drawing from their internal psych and emotions, they skillfully illustrate not only outward appearance, but personality strengths and flaws.

You’re probably familiar with some of the “famous artist” self-portraits. When lesser known artists add their own portrait to the mix, their unique style and preferences make them standout.

Self-portraits can also be used as a trademark that represents who you are and what you have to offer. People enjoy seeing an artist’s interpretation of themselves and how it relates to the style of their work.

In the latest Republican debate, the candidate’s facial expressions were telling. Only time will tell who comes out on top of the heap.

There was a back and forth between Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina over a comment Trump had made earlier about her “face.” “Have you seen that face,” he chided? “It’s not Presidential.” Later he backed off of those comments.

Gustave Courbet, "The Desperate Man"

Fiorina did not outright blast The Donald. Instead she came up with a fantastic commercial showing ordinary women’s faces concluding that they had great things to accomplish. She also verbally jabbed him at the debate saying “The women in America knew exactly what your meaning was,” and the audience applauded.

Carly Fiorina fires back!

Politics! Trump said after her remarks “I think she’s a beautiful and a wonderful woman.” Did Carly accept his attempt at graciousness? Absolutely not. The eye darts were flying. Most of the audience thought his comments were patronizing and insincere. Which just goes to show you that actions speak louder than words.

Trump’s body language and expressions showed that he is perfectly at ease with who he is in spite of his brash and at times insulting comments. He is confident that he knows how to get things done and that he will be successful.

Lucien Freud, Reflections, self-portrait

Next to body language, faces are the most expressive part of the body. There are some people who know how to put on a happy face even when they’re not. Some can show no emotion whatsoever which makes it easy for them to get unnoticed and unrevealed.

Beware of reading too much into body language or facial expressions. Some people (con men and women) are especially good at making themselves seem just like you and me. 

Follow your gut instincts. If something doesn’t seem quite right, it probably isn’t.

Don’t take people at their word either. Make sure you follow through with requests for identity and references. A telephone call to a friend or neighbor may just secure your safety and your money.

Rembrandt, self-portrait

Allowing people off the street into your house just because they have a flashy business card and a friendly face is foolish. Tell them you were expecting company or that you must leave for an appointment and ask them to come back another day. 

This cautious attitude pays off in politics as well. Take your time to assess a candidate over time. Do some research. The truth is somewhere in the middle as opponents may try to negate their competition. We have a lot at stake this year! Do your homework and then get out and vote!  If you don't vote, please don't complain later that you’re upset with the outcome.

Diane Edison, oil, self-portrait

Art is the Priceless Expression of the Soul

Work in Progress -- acrylic drawing 18x24 canvas

What is the fine line that separates art from pornography? Can you feel it? Sense it? What is vulgar to one person may be beautiful to another. I was surprised and excited when I took my first drawing class with a live model. I blossomed! My linear ink/brush drawing won first prize in an art show.

I took my sketches and drawings; my prized paintings, to a family reunion and shared them with relatives. My excitement waned as shocked and appalled faces looked back at me. They were not only “not impressed,” they were disgusted.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Obviously, my relatives had never had much exposure to art. What they saw and felt was shame for the exposure of the human form. I was crestfallen. Every emotion and skill I had discovered in myself was frowned on by those who knew me. My best was not good enough. I was viewed with disdain.

Did that deter me? Yes, for awhile until I rediscovered myself and the beauty of all God’s creations, including the human body.

Work in Progress -- "Fish Market--You Buy?"

During the transformation of the German people under the leadership of Hitler, Heinrich Heine made this observation: “Where books or art is burned, they will in the end, burn people.”

We must protect our freedom of expression. In China they cannot use the Internet freely or speak freely. Sometimes in government’s efforts to control and protect, they end up extinguishing freedom. Just like blowing on a lighted candle, they diminish the light of truth and the power of the individual to choose.

Work in Progress, 18x24 canvas, Fishmarket

Here are some of my favorite quotes by famous artists: Enjoy!

"When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college- that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared back at me, incredulous, and said, "You mean they forget?"	Howard Ikemoto
The more horrifying this world becomes, the more art becomes abstract.	Paul Klee
"Good art is not what it looks like, but what it does to us."	Roy Adzak
"A painting is never finished - it simply stops in interesting places."	Paul Gardner
"A line is a dot that went for a walk."	Paul Klee
It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.	Pablo Picasso
Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.	Pablo Picasso
It takes a very long time to become young.	Pablo Picasso
There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, thanks to their art and intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun.	Pablo Picasso
If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all.	Michelangelo Buonarroti
"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain."	Maya Angelou
An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision."	James McNeill Whistler
"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures."	Henry Ward Beecher
It has bothered me all my life that I do not paint like everybody else.	Henri Matisse
I do not literally paint that table, but the emotion it produces upon me.	Henri Matisse
I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way-things I had no words for.	Georgia O'Keeffe
Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.	Georgia O'Keeffe
"The source of genius is imagination alone, the refinement of the senses that sees what others do not see, or sees them differently."	Eugene Delacroix
"I am an artist… I am here to live out loud."	Emile Zola
"Painting is easy for those that do not know how, but very difficult for those that do!"	Edgar Degas
"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see."	Edgar Degas
"No amount of skillful invention can replace the essential element of imagination."       Edward Hopper "Hey, Coconut Mon" (part of my African series)