Tuesday, September 4, 2007

entitled "diagram of a tutu"


this is a painting that is 36" x 48", pretty big. it is sold. it was $850.00, for those who want to know.
for a while i was painting ballerinas. ballerinas from the 1920's because i liked their longer tutus and their cotton-y looking tights and cool head-dresses....and i'm keen to do the vintage aspect...i find great pleasure in painting from black and whites. i love to invent color from pictures where there is no record of visual color. during this same time frame of painting ballerinas, i was also painting boxers - heavy weights. (Jack Dempsey, Jack Johnson (see previous post in july entitled "competitions"), Rocky Marciano, Archie Moore, etc.)

i did this initially because my husband has such a huge collection of old "Ring" magazines from 1925 to 197Os around the house supplying me with plenty of material....and.....i wanted to give him gifts (peace offerings for messing up the dining area with paints).....

BUT THEN, i realized they were a great way to study the human form; plenty of muscles and poses. i also grew to love the theater lighting and the drama. sometimes i would include the ringside expressions in the faces of crowds...OR, i include in a close up, the sweat and blood spilled and sprayed from the blows of the gloved fist, together with the very strangely contorted and gnarled face. often the face looked like a natural Picasso expression.

Boxers and ballerinas as subjects offer movement, balance and grace. the color is the fun part.

Lately i changed subject matter to that of surfers. i was born in San Diego and grew up with the surf culture here. so, painting surfers is like painting my youth. it gives me great pleasure and a chance to re-live my past a bit.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lisa, You know I love your art and I must say that I also thoroughly enjoy the titles that you choose!! "diagram of a tutu"
Wonderful!!!

Lisa Bebi said...

hey ramona...
i like your name too.
lisa

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