Wednesday, April 17, 2013

"The Painter"

A few words and photos on the creation of "The Painter" mosaic.  It all started with the fused glass portrait of Maureen created for Julia Kay's Portrait Party (JKPP) last year.

  Maureen is a wonderful artist, affectionately known at the portrait party, as The Queen

Fused glass portrait of Maureen Nathan

Inspiration: Sofonisba Anguissola
A secondary inspiration was the self portrait of artist Sofanisba Anguissola's, which presented me with a wonderful context in which to feature my contemporary artist friend.




Once her body & hands were completed, it was time to decide on which painting should be on her easel.   So many possibilities! 

Hands cut & wardrobe chosen







I spent a long & delightful time looking through Maureen's flickr photostream to choose just the right piece to fit the composition.






I sketched 5 or 6 of them on my substrate before making a final decision.  
Here's one I didn't use.
One of the earlier sketches 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maureennathan/8161043682/in/set-72157627532693500/
A Child in a Chair, Maureen Nathan



In the end I decided on this eerie & provocative image, from her wonderful series of chairs.  














painting in place ~ choosing glass
Back to my renaissance reference & the fact that she IS the Queen (& this is a mosaic!)
a golden halo around her head, was a must!
The Painter 





 Previous post on my Fused glass experiments here.
Maureen Nathan's website here.