Freaky Frida Painting Series

Paying homage to someone who has inspired me since I discovered her, Fridha Kahlo, I started painting again. I think it’s been about 20 years at least since I painted but my creativity is flowing stuck in this house so I figured it was time to re-explore this favorite past time of mine.

My favorite place in high school was the art room. I found solitude and peace in that room and it saved me from my high school bully’s. I have always gravitated towards the strange, unusual, and creative “freaks” in the world as I myself identify with them tenfold. Back in the 90’s we were thick in the grunge era so sporting our overalls and Doc Martins fit the are scene well. Also met one of my still BFF’s forever in that space and we would hit up Coffee Society, art class, and watch Reality Bites incisively together and just survive what was high school in that time period.

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The things I related to as a teenager in the 90’s…I always was an art nerd

My art teacher, Mr. Akamichi, saved me from BOTH bullying and my parents divorce with oil paints and the ability to create. I didn’t even know I was creative until I met this teacher and have never painted a thing.. I owe a lot to that teacher…he really gave me a world I lived to be in daily and I know he inspired so many other kids (including my brother). I spent a year in his class and produced a GIANT oil painting of Supermodel Linda Evangelista which I thought was long lost but my dad recently found buried in his garage and sent me a picture of it, still looking just as I remembered it:

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I don’t know why but I’ve always had an obsessions with 90’s supermodels, maybe because they were so the over the top extreme of what beauty is, that I couldn’t get enough. I loved their over-the-topness and all the hair, makeup, clothes and extremities that went with that time frame. I also have equally been obsessed with flowers and all florals for artwork and have collections of paintings I’ve picked up over the years. Since we are in lockdown, and I’ve nursed my rose bushes all year, I used them as inspiration for a recent painting class I took online that involved both florals and women as the subject matter:

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From My Garden

Frida Kahlo

I signed up for an online painting class from The Cathedral in Austin, Texas (super cool place and great art inspo for you) and was intrigued how this would go…it actually worked pretty well. You hand sketch out your lady on paper first (and all of them come out totally different I’m finding – not one looks like Frida herself of is similar to the last for me) but it is so much fun and you can quickly hand sketch these in a few minutes since the painting work itself is abstract. I find sketching out the hair and braids is particularly satisfying as they are all so different to create. I just love painting me some fierce ladies!

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Taking real life inspo and making art with it…

Then you just go to town with all the bold, saturated colors you like – no rules, which I love, because we aren’t trying to make these look realistic. Just swish and swirl your paint colors together to make a beautiful mash of tropical ladies come to life! You can see my evolution from the first one to the last here:

This was my first of what I’m calling the “Freaky Frida” series….I did this in about one hour following the instructor so it was really rushed (uh, yeah) but let me figure out my own process. I’m like a rusty tire over here folks.

I wanted a bird for this Frida and added it in last minute

So, of course, this just opened up the floodgates of inspiration and so I quickly threw together a floral painting based off of the floral arrangement I had on my living room coffee table. I have always loved bright, bold abstract paintings where the colors just fold and blend together like they are dancing. I also had a helper who painted on his own projects simultaneously to me in the process which was great!

Art in lockdown is truly one of the highlights for me right now…every spare second I have or can get Cole interested in joining me, we start to draw or paint. Maybe I can put together some kind of cool, bold flower lady collage wall in the shed when I’m done…who knows!