An American Woman

The finished work -

An American Woman, 2013, Krystal Booth

Oil on paper, 18x24"

Etsy Listing:



http://www.etsy.com/listing/127026313/original-oil-painting-18x24-woman-at

(Detail)

 

 



(Detail)

For this piece, I wanted to bring back some narrative and share what I've been feeling and thinking lately.  I've tried to ignore my feelings of isolation in public places, and alienation in our culture in terms of my gender, but decided that it is worth sharing in this form.  I feel very revealed, but at the same time, I don't want it to be a concrete "this is the way you should read it" type of narrative.  I hope that it allows for the viewer's individual experiences to influence it's content.

Today I will be applying gesso on some more paper to get ready for oil painting.  I should have done this yesterday, but after waking up so early and working, I couldn't do much but sleep when I arrived back home.

As for the 100 works goal, I'm not too far behind.  I'm about to begin on #15 for the year.  I slipped a little over the past couple of weeks.  I have 286 more days to create 85 more works.  Looking at it in terms of days makes me realize that it is completely possible.

This is the first day of Spring - a rejuvenation after a long winter.  I'm ready for it, aren't you? 

Love to all, and thank you so very much for reading and allowing me to share my work with you.


 

No, I'm Not Crazy: The Beginning Thoughts and Inspiration

Today, I wanted to share with you a little of what's inspiring the September Issue painting series.



Sources of Ideas and Inspiration in my studio

 

Maybe it stems from going with my Dad to The Newstand, a store in Angola, Indiana, as a kid.  It was filled with racks of magazines, newspapers, candy, and cigars.  The aroma of the sweetest cigar tabacco and fresh ink was a heavy perfume for this place, and if I could have I would have bottled it.  Anyway, I have always enjoyed magazines.  The colors, the images, the landscapes and the models unknowingly taught me a lot about two-dimensional composition while I was growing up.

 

There is something ridiculous about fashion magazines that I've only began to understand as an adult.  I will probably never dress like that.  Some of the attire is ridiculous, other ensembles are ugly, and some are absolutely beautiful but completely non-functional for everyday life.  For instance, a typical day of riding my bike to the train and working at my part-time job mixing paint, followed by a session of oil painting or drawing screams to me, "You simply MUST wear Valentino today!", doesn't it? haha

 

While I would love to wear outlandish clothes and feminine delicate fabrics everyday, it's simply not my life, nor is it my budget.  These are for the wealthy or at the very least, the very financially comfortable populations who do have the lifestyle suited for these clothes with formal dinner parties, events, and all that is luxurious and leisurely.  (I daydream about what all that might be, but all I can come up with something that looks like the television show, Revenge.  I clearly haven't a clue.) haha

 

These clothes do not make an appearance in my everyday surroundings, but what if they did?  This mixture of the models I see in the magazines with my neighborhood in Portland is entertaining.  What if I saw her waiting for the bus?  What if she was a gas station attendant?  What if I saw them at Subway?  Everyone gets hungry.  Why not? Hahaha! 
 

So I began taking photos around my neighborhood.

 

Bus stop at the corner of the Tualatin Valley Highway & 170th., Beaverton

 

 

The Shell Station at Orenco on Cornell Road, Hillsboro

 

My hope with this series is that it gives people a laugh with the awkward narrative, and inspires some thought about how our world differs with the world created within the pages of a glossy fashion magazine.  Who and what are they marketing when we look below the surface of things?  I get the impression that I'm probably not the only woman who looks at these and feels a bit inferior when the pages close and I realize that my hair looks drab, my face looks tired, and I'm wearing yoga pants with holes in them.  More questions and observations arise as I think more about some of these images, and as the series progresses, I'm hoping that still more come to the surface.