Monday 15 November 2010

Faces and Reflection

I have been drifting around the house doing nothing particularly productive for the past week. The same cycle goes on. I'd sit at the drawing table, pick up a pencil and pause. Draw a face and stop. Get up to the kitchen, make coffee and read a book. A pile of laundry to wash, kids to feed and TV programs that steal none of my interests. Then I'd come back to the drawing table, take a longer pause, draw another face and stop. Strangely enough, I haven't been able to go anywhere beyond faces, faces, and more faces. So after kicking and forcing myself to paint my last pieces, which as you already know were yet again faces, I decided to call it quits for a while. That is until a fellow artist asked me a question that really stopped my drifting completely. He wanted to know if those faces were me.

Good question, I thought to myself. I never have models posed for my work, and I always start a drawing anywhere I please on a paper without thinking or imagining. From one single line and finish with another. So why do these faces seem familiar? Maybe they are me, just tiny fractions of myself that accidentally slipped through. Or maybe inspirations that have sneaked into my mind while I read the abundant copies of books that have now taken up as much space as the growing spread of toys in my kids' room. Well, call me a bookworm, but they are my ultimate source of inspiration. With characters alive in my mind...imperfect, not without flaws. Enchanting, yet human to the core.


So here goes another face, and her name is Meghann.The beautiful "ashes of roses".
 


"...There is a legend, about a bird that sings just once in its life. From the moment it leaves its nest, it searches for a thorn tree and does not rest until it's found one. And then it sings more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. And singing, it impales itself on the longest, sharpest thorn. But, as it dies, it rises above its own agony, to out-sing the lark and the nightingale. The thorn bird pays its life for just one song, but the whole world stills to listen, and God in his heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain..."



Maybe you could guess which book she lingers in?


18 comments:

  1. mbak.Lia.i.woship.you!!! XD

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  2. Your blog is amazing!
    www.atgastonj.blogspot.com

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  3. Enchantress! She is beautiful, yet tenacious. A rose among the thorns.

    Please, Amalia. Promise me you will not impale yourself upon a thorn.

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  4. Ce! Hahaha! Thanks, I guess... Well, better than to worship the devil, I'll say! :D :D

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  5. Hello Sevilla, thanks so much... good to see you here! :)

    Hi Ana! How are you? Thank you... ♥

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  6. My dear, sweet Bella Majella Caramella...hehehe, thank you. You are kind as well as hilariously funny! Seriously, I don't think I'm capable of impaling myself upon anything, let alone a prickly thorn!!

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  7. Amalia, hi, I have been so busy I have not visited lately :(
    I have missed visiting! She is lovely just as all of your ladies are.

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  8. Oh Gee I awlays assumed that they were you, just different sides, you know like picasso cubist portraits, only better, and instead of being on one image, they are on many separate images, all the better for us to see your many faces.

    I like this one, it reminds me of headstones, but not in a bad way. faces on headstones tell us that the person buried there was once alive, that they were once just like us.

    And it's all the more poignant when they are/were beautiful.

    So sad.

    It;s good the sharpness of the thorns justaposed with the soft sharpness of sad beauty,

    (none of my pictures are of me except the toothless pirate)

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  9. Hey Amalia, I find myself drifting around every now and then too, I guess it just happens once in a while when I'm not sure about a drawing.
    Anyway, you illustrated this picture so well based on the story, she's beautiful.

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  10. I have often wondered if the faces are you also, there is a similar feeling in them, lovely, deep, present.
    Such a beauty in this one...
    I love the words you share with us at the top of your blog... lovely as can be.

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  11. Hi Amalia,
    This is a very beautiful face and I think she does look like you, as do all your face drawings.
    Your images are very serene and elegant. I love that about your ladies.
    I think the images are all aspects of your character. I enjoyed reading your feelings about your work.
    It is lovely to catch up with you!
    Hugs to you sweetie,
    xxx

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  12. Hola Hello Hallo Hi Olá Bon Giorno!
    that's true, I've dissapeared of blogland for a while, I've been so busy! a lot of school work, a lot of new responsabilities (clean my room, buy food everyday, cook, wash my clothes...) This is a really new experience for me, time flies! I made a lot of new friends, but I miss so SO MUCH my little siblings!

    You must know: I'm following your work, everytime you publish something new, I visit your blog, but sadly I don't comment it...

    I REALLY LOVE this drawing. It's interesting what is behind the faces we draw... years ago I was talking with a friend of mine, in our drawing class, and we commented that our face is the face we know best and that's why the characters resemble us. (is the face we know best because we look at our face every morning before school)

    Who have the key to your heart? mysterious header... I like it :)

    PS_ I need some vacations!

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  13. This is gorgeous. i think our art always contains pieces of us...I often wondered if that was you. again, really beautiful! i like your new blog top and the all black! looks terrific! big hugs! xo

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  14. ~how beautiful the legend you shared...

    from the moment i came here...i had always thought of each girl as a reflection of you...your life and what lies within you...when hurting ...your drawing showed such..when your spirit was alive so to where you girls...when feeling playful...we were presented with a piece that humored our spirit...and when your heart felt heavy or saddened so to was what you shared with us...you weave a wonderous tale into each...maybe not revealing the story of it possibly being you...protecting your privacy in a certain manner yett prompting such thoughts with your writing...and intensity of each piece...i am always moved by what you create...i wish you well and always my blessings remain with you~

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  15. My dear Amalia, it's maybe strange but I never thought that your face was "hidden" in the faces of your girls. But I've always known that you reveal some parts of your inner world - no matter an experience, a dream, a hope or fear. Your girls go through various emotional states as we all do and you have the talent to express it in such a wonderful way!

    I haven't heard of such a bird. But the legend reminds me very much of Oscar Wild's "The Nightingale and the Rose". I hope this dreamy girl is not ready to die for her love or out of love. The thorns around her are disturbing, but who knows, maybe the bird will save her, sacrifying its own life?
    I like all your faces and I noticed that with each new post your girls imperceptibly turned into young women - with their individualities and characters, not only beauty...
    Hugs!!xx

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  16. This is just gorgeous, I think she is one of my very favorites of yours! My mom always says that every artist paints themselves, it is an interesting idea to think about :) ~Lauren

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  17. These women are so sad! And look at that header of yours. Oh no! A black heart. Oh my head is spinning! I need to breathe!

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Tell me your lovely daydreams, they always make me smile! ♥