Many figurative artists paint classically beautiful women or studdly young men. Others paint their families, whose faces are beloved regardless of their beauty.
And then there’s me. I seem to be attracted to fat, bald old men; wrinkled old women, and rumpled, casual musicians.
Let’s take a walk down my trail of less-than-perfectly-beautiful characters:
There’s Cigar Guy. You met him in the site’s header graphic. I thought he was a riot, sitting outside a classy women’s clothing boutique one sunny morning. My painting group is betting he’s waiting for his wife to finish spending all their money.
There’s La Vielle Vendeuse. I picked her from among many more attractive and younger people in a marche in a small French town in Dordogne. No, she’s not on a cell phone…just scratching her ear.
And what about the musicians I paint? Not sultry torch singers. Not glamorous on-stage shots of the rich and famous.
For instance, Music Men, part of the Healdsburg town band…
Summer Song, part of a combo playing at the Healdsburg Farmer’s Market on another morning…
And Guitar Guy, picking out a tune during a break in the action.
So there you have it. No glamour pusses in these paintings. And yet, to me each is a beauty, telling an interesting story. They are my kind of people. I hope they are yours too.
Click the “comment” hyperlink below and let me know what you think.
Joanne Taeuffer 