A prominent gallery curator in Burlington, VT had come to a show of commissioned fashion drawings I had done, a mix of newer more 'polished' figures and then older ones in black and white, from my New York days. He was kind, but he said something quite honest and blunt, to the extent of: These are nice, but can you do something more interesting? Something gutsier?
Words that were, of course, hard to hear… But which were transformative.
I thought my fashion-school fashion things were good enough. But as I reflected on it more and more, I could see that I had never really done something completely raw, self-determined with my fashion drawings. They were tame.
And so, I began again. One afternoon, after a difficult phone conversation, I sat down to paint -- this time combining sharks with a female face, bubbles, and simply color. I painted it all at once, step by step, working with the fluidity and the imperfections. And out came Shark Tank.
I'm not necessarily convinced it's any sort of "best work" but it pushed a boundary for me, which is I think all you can do. Venture into new territory again and again.
I hope to finish the series of 'Fifteen Fashion Faces' in the upcoming year.
