Sisters

Work is progressing very well on the large painting of Bahareh and Farzaneh Safarani in their studio.  

The hands and faces are finished except for some minor glazing. I was about to begin painting the clothing next, but instead I felt a clear need to add a large face to the reflection in the window ... the face of a woman that "watched" over the composition. She was not in the original drawing, but when I drew her, she arrived quickly, fitting in as perfectly as if she'd been there from the beginning. I smiled with the thought that she was the sisters' muse. Little did I know ...

in progress

30" x 38", oil on linen

I wrote the sisters about the addition and Farzaneh replied: " ... there is like another person who oversees us and lives with us in our world. This person is like a mutual ego between me and my sister. In our paintings even though we do paint portraits of one of us - which is often me - but we try to portray that person who is someone between me and my sister. It grows with us and we both contribute to her being. She is the actual subject of our works. We try to to represent her through ourselves."

That thought provoking insight into their work is one more uncanny item to add to the ever-growing list of positive outcomes when letting the subconscious dictate the painting.

The dresses are next to paint now, though first have added the bright notes of a pencil and a brush on the table.

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