Beauty

I often get asked why I only paint females and I usually give the same answer, because that is what I know. I live in a female body and experience the world through that body. I also get asked how I choose my models and my answer would be the same as if I were defining what I thought made a person beautiful. I don't think an artificial attempt at perfection is attractive. I think a body, especially a face is most beautiful when it becomes a map of that individuals experience, a map of the life they lived. Muscles represent that she has worked hard and that she is strong, some curves because she has softness, scars represent risks taken and mark passages of life and sometimes the sacrifice a mother gave for her babies out of love. I want to paint someone when I look in their eyes and those eyes communicate, give you a feeling or idea of what that person has lived, that they have lived. That that person has had a meaningful life.
Personally, I'm shocked that at nearly 40 years old I feel more comfortable in my body than I ever have. I didn't think that's how it would be. Although, I really probably should have put on sunscreen when my mother told me to.