My Abstract Self Portrait ~ ‘Dream Catcher’

I have been living some pretty major shifts lately.  My theme is finding my real voice, by stretching myself into dream territory. My work is so often focussed on my experiences and feelings and I needed to create something that could help capture and share my unfolding, because I felt like my heart was going to explode if I didn’t do something with this amazing energy I was feeling inside!

So I decided to create a self portrait.

I began with a really simple hourglass shape using my Copic markers, to represent my body. The top sun-looking thing is my heart exploding. I have the nailpolishes there because I wanted to experiment with using them in my work. Note – They GLOW in the DARK!!!

I seem to be using magenta and turquoise a lot lately. Something about that colour combination resonates with me, they’re both so vibrant, yet opposite on the colour wheel – maybe it’s an embracing of my light and dark sides equally.

I painted a bowl, almost womb-like feature in my lower half to represent the ideas swelling within me, like a place for them to birth from. Just like real life, I’m not afraid of giving birth anymore.

Once I had the basic shape and colours blocked in, it was time to add detail!

Adding the detail was an intuitive and very playful process. Whereas most people painting a self-portrait are trying to make themselves LOOK the same as they do in real life, I wanted my painting to FEEL the same as I do inside. There was an underlying theme of deep-space, the blackness from which newness emerges. I used to fear using black in my works. Now I see that it allows the light to shine … and it feels completely awesome!!

So, here is the finished piece. I’ve called it ‘Dream Catcher’ – that’s me, allowing my dreams to emerge by catching them and acting on them with vibrancy and courage.

I really love this piece. And I’m so glad I played with those nail polishes, because now this artwork glows in the dark! How cool is that, now I can shine in the dark, forever! Kachow!

Love C xx