Women in Nature

This painting was another assignment from my art class. The project was to create a tryptic, which is a piece that has an image on the left, a central image, and an image on the right, all with one central theme. One famous example is Hieronymus Bosh's Garden of Earthly Delights, which deptics the Garden of Eden on the left, a dream-like vision of Utopia in the center, and Hell on the left.
This painting is much more simplistic. Our assignment was to choose three different images to paint together as a tryptic with a central theme on one large canvas. The images had to come from a classic piece, a modern piece, and one of our own choice. On the far left, I found inspiration from Henri Rousseau's Il Sogno / The Dream. I chose to illustrate the nude woman reclining in the forest because she stood out as a figure of bliss and connection with the elements around her. As the central, modern image, I chose an piece by an artist called James Christensen. I loved the way that he portrayed an angel flying delicately but without wings, as if she was just taking a stroll. The image is a poor representation of the actual work, but I was attempting to do justice to the piece I found, called An Angel Following a Flying Fish Through a Forest of Mushrooms. As you can see, it does not quite do the original justice, but this was an early attempt. The last image on the far right was from a photograph I took of my friend Rachel at the beach one day. She's holding a tiny seashell in her fingers. I loved the way that the color of the beads on her necklace almost perfectly matched the colors of the ocean behind her, so that's why I chose this piece. I remember having great difficulties painting her smile, until my art teacher suggested to turn everything upside down and paint only the shapes and shades. I think her advice worked pretty well. I don't know what happened to the original photograph; it must have gotten lost in the shuffle.

I wanted to paint women in nature as a central theme for this tryptic because I have always felt very comfortable outside, and I also felt like women are under-represented in strong roles outside of the home / social confines. The irony is that the first two images were created by men; it was a photograph that I took that was the final piece. Nonetheless, I wanted to make the connection between women and earth / spirituality.

The funny thing about this painting is that I almost forget that I even have it. It has hung in my home for so long, in very conspicuous places, that it has become a part of my background and a part of my own habitat.

Acrylic on canvas.
April 2004
24" x 36"