Progress Pictures of 'Mothers'

For those of you that like progress pictures...

View on Saatchi Art

Here is my new painting: ‘Mothers’, a self portrait (60 cm x 76 cm paint on canvas with photographs). 

I love the genre of self portraiture and the freedom of expression it brings. I painted the self portrait ‘Mothers’ because I wanted to explore the concept of heritage (physical, cultural, emotional, spiritual) and womanhood.  I have Native American heritage and am connected to Kenyan culture hence the hair style, choker style necklace and wrapped material. The necklace depicts my female family tree, showing the eyes of my mother, mother-in-law, grandmothers, great grandmothers…etc.  I focused on the females in my family tree because of the emphasis on womanhood and the influence mothers have. The pose is unusual; I chose to look at the viewer as if I were looking down to give the impression of strength and power.  I wanted to convey that my heritage and the women/mothers that are part of that heritage, empower me.

You can view this painting on Saatchi Art: http://bit.ly/2q23R5i

NEW work - Mountain

I am enjoying experimenting with a range of media. This piece is a self portrait exploring belonging, hopes and dreams. I often use gold and silver in my artwork and wanted to have a gold object as a focal point. I like to show elements of the 'unseen' in my artwork and have focused on the intangible; hopes and dreams. The belonging elements of the image link in with my Native American heritage and are subtly referenced.

Saatchi Art

Mountain 29.7 cm (w) x 42 cm (h) mixed media on paper

Adoption

My newest painting:

Adoption  100cm (w) x 150cm (h) paint on canvas

It is about physical and spiritual adoption.

View / buy prints on Saatchi

Below the Surface Woman Blue

Here is another portrait from the 'Below the Surface' body of work.  I went to the Stanley Spencer Gallery recently and admired a sketched portrait of his first wife in hard pencil.  It inspired me to use hard pencil in this body of work. 

Woman Blue  21cm (w) x 42cm (h) pencil, ink and paint on paper

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Below the Surface...

‘Below the Surface’ is a body of work consisting of portraits created with hard pencil, ink and paint.  The paint is expressive, depicting elements of the subject’s character.  Here is one of the portraits, there are more to come!

Woman Yellow 29.7cm (w) x 42cm (h) pencil, ink and paint on paper

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Lineage

Here is another recent painting. It is a self portrait (not a very flattering one, but then that is not what self portraits are about!).  It is called Lineage, the painting is about heritage, ancestry, what gets passed down to us and what shapes us.  My dreads look like tree branches so I created a 'family tree' / 'tree of life' with the layout of my hair.  The splashes of colour represent different elements being passed down, the things that impact / shape us and the results. The turquoise represents bitter sweet elements and the yellow represents positive elements, such as love, joy and faith. 

Lineage 61cm (w) x 91cm (h) paint on canvas 

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WhatIsItToBeHuman

The WhatIsItToBeHuman year long touring exhibition is drawing to an end. They calculate over 10,000 people have visited the exhibition which is great. I am really pleased to have had 'Retrospective Sisterhood' selected for the exhibition and the organisers have been fantastic.

The exhibition from the WhatIsItToBeHuman website.

This is an old London exhibition advertising image - I think it is pretty clever (and fun), 

I am on the right, under the painted man's feet.

Here is my documentation of 'Rebecca'...

New Artwork

I am excited about some new portraits... I was in London sketching and photographing models / sitters with amazing hair at the weekend.  I'm really looking forward to creating the final pieces.  I plan to document my process (something I don't usually do) so look out for some videos!

From Retrospective Sisterhood (Diptych)

Contemporary Art Response to Dramatic Charity Event

I ‘documented’ a hairdresser losing her hair through three large paintings on canvas (The Gift I, II, and III).  

Reading based Hairdresser Mel, had her long, multi-coloured hair shaved off publicly in her Salon to raise awareness of human sex trafficking and to raise money for a charity supporting victims.  The three vibrant paintings depict different stages of the event and the changing atmosphere.  

Fellow hairdressers wept as Mel had the last of her hair removed; her sacrificial ‘gift’ was a touching act to witness.  25% of profits from sales of prints and the paintings are donated to The Mustard Tree Foundation’s Rahab Project.

The Gift I  91cm (w) x 61cm (h) paint on canvas with embellishment  

 The Gift II  61cm (w) x 91cm (h) paint on canvas with embellishment    

The Gift III  61cm (w) x 91cm (h) paint on canvas with embellishment

For more information about these paintings, please go to www.saatchiart.com/bethlouella