Week 138

The salt air lubricates the cogs of my imagination; gorgeous scene after scene arrives in my mind as I stand on the edge of the infinite ocean, toes squishing and sandy hair blowing into my mouth. On the second evening of our trip, I spend time sketching out my ideas for composition, attempting to quickly capture the best angles and most dramatic looks ahead of time to show to our model and Laert. In travel, you are limited by what you can carry. Many times, the props we use are our groceries, simple clothing, or found objects, such as a luscious blanket from the vacation home.

After returning from our vacation into the realities of August, work, and school resuming, I found myself standing over the cook top as the latest news unfurled. Stirring in shock, I listened to the horrible way we pulled out of Afghanistan after 20 years. I felt aghast and terribly sad, thinking about the people left there and the way deep darkness was swooping in so very, very quickly for the women and families there. It made my heart ache. This composition came to mind, and pulling it up that night, we decided to paint it with them in our hearts.

Beginning with a green under canvas, we built layer upon layer as a prayer of hope to those looking out on their current life in the Middle East, and also to those who are now waking in a country of almost infinite possibility. When we finished her with a light velature of burnt sienna, she became even more warm, human, and alive. The wind of change was in our model’s hair as the salty breeze lifted her fine hairs across a face full of experience yet unfurrowed with trouble. She is wise and calm, pensive and strong. There is a whisper of pain, but she is wrapped with love and determination.- K