Everybody knows today is International Women's Day right? Yeah, I didn't know there was such a thing either until I clicked on the ankh in the google logo today.
A feminist raised me and I didn't even know what that was until much later in my life. I grew up thinking that women were equal to men and I didn't realize that was an unpopular opinion until I was in my late teens or early twenties.
I’ve always had a tendency to date strong women (or marry them in Mary's case).
I remember one of my first girlfriends wanting to get married to me, which frankly surprised me. I assumed that women didn't want to be married any more after the sexual revolution. That’s what TV and Hollywood had told me at any rate.
It took me awhile to realize that women didn’t want to be treated like men but rather to be treated as equals and individuals. It seems like a simple concept now.
The thing is this, I tend to paint and draw a lot of nudes -specifically female nudes. Which some of my female friends find fascinating and others find annoying. The males don’t seem to mind so much either way. I’ve met more women in the past few years that know what vintage pin-up art is more so than men. Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing female kind an injustice by painting the female form. I just find it so appealing. It’s a challenge. Something I don’t get much of artistically anymore.
Yet the women I draw and paint all seem to be powerful. Well basically no matter what the source material is, I paint Mary. She really is my favorite work of art. Not to mention a hell of a model. I couldn’t hold those poses for as long as she does.