Several months back i got the notion for this artwork. i love drawing tendrils and curves and curliques and wanted to do a stylized portrait series focusing on hair. For a long time, the idea was a bit fuzzy in my mind and i didn’t know exactly what i was shooting for. i started looking in magazines and catalogs for some inspiring hair angles and styles. Then it hit me. Duh!? Why hadn’t i started looking on etsy? i searched under “hair accessories” and “hippie” and “bohemian” and “organic” and lo & behold, my inspiration appeared on the screen. i came across the Mandizzle site and was smitten. i immediately wrote up a convo and explained what i was doing and asked permission to use the shop’s photos as my inspiration. Luckily, the shop owner had rights to the images and a very generous heart. She was excited! i whipped through 4 of these pieces in a matter of days. The spirit was in me! i had so many ideas for color combinations, how i would stain and layer transparent color onto the wood panels. i was falling asleep each night dreaming of what the hair ornaments would look like in my trippy, swirly style. When i was done the series, it felt so good.

i’ve had a lot of good response from this set, even sold one of the originals to a local Philly radio personality, and am talking with Miss Mandizzle herself about creating a custom logo for her business based on the drawings. Of course, she gets all the perks i’ve got to give. If it wasn’t for her amazingness, these pieces wouldn’t have been born in the first place.

Why did i create this piece?

This one started as a study of form, and i’d spent about 8 hours on it when i decided i’d have to scrap it. It was out of balance somehow. i told myself it was no biggie, it was just an exercise, and it had been extremely calming and meditative to create….so you win some and you lose some. But after walking away and coming back to it a few days later, it was so obvious to me what was wrong with it. The outlines were solid black. They were too heavy considering the wood-stained perimeter and the intricately filled spaces and loops. It felt heavy. It didn’t feel like ME. It needed to be lifted up and given an airier feeling. So i filled in the black lines with white acrylic, just leaving a sliver of the original black around the edges, and i started loving it. The white lines BECAME the piece. They inspired me to add all the white line-work around the perimeter of the main shape. They brightened the personality of the piece and made me want to add the cheerful words. Those simple white lines changed everything.

Now, i could probably insert some great “Black vs White”  analogy or turn of phrase here…but that would cheapen the truth, which is really crazy simple. i just needed to lighten up! My brain and my spirit wanted me to lighten up. If you know me, that’s pretty freakishly on point. Sometimes, in my little world of detail and control and perfection, i  miss the forest for the trees and i just need to remind myself to loosen the grip, take a break, get some fresh eyes! Then, like magic, the answer comes and i feel better, more like myself. i know it’s why i adore wild color so much, it balances my crazy, meticulous, type-A tendencies.

i really have a special fondness for this piece, because when i look at it, i see the journey. i turned the lost cause into something i consider beautiful. It’s a great lesson and a good daily reminder. So that’s the story. ; )