Self Portrait at Age 50

When I decided yesterday morning that a great way to spend my 50th birthday was by painting a self portrait, who knows what romantic notions were going through that humidity puffed head of mine? Next time I do this, the easel has GOT to be closer to the mirror, because it was really hard to see my features, hence my wearing glasses. And it's not like the details need to be there exactly, but it is generally nice when a nose looks like a nose, and lips look like lips, and of course, that since it's a self portrait, that those features look like the ones on my actual face. 

So, yep, this is how I spent my 50th birthday. It's 14" x 18" oil on linen.

The Yellow Brick Path

One of the recent guests to our home was the niece of Ray Bolger, who was the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. Her name is Chris, and she wrote a little memoir about her life, which was greatly influenced by her famous Uncle Ray. Reading Chris' book became the catalyst for Reese and me watching YouTube videos of Chris' Uncle Ray (in particular, a video of Judy Garland interviewing Ray Bolger - it's absolutely charming), it led to us watching the movie again, and for our 29th anniversary last month, the Amazing Reese gave me the first book in the collection of stories about the land of Oz. Reese is even reading a chapter aloud to me each night as we go to bed. (Just another example of why he is the Amazing Reese.) It's a fascinating book, and super interesting to get background information about how the Scarecrow became the Scarecrow, how the Tin Woodman became the Tin Woodman, and the stories of the flying monkeys, and well, everything. It's a really great story and we're both thoroughly enjoying it.

Because of the influence of Uncle Ray on my new friend and our consequent renewed interest in all things Oz, I've been thinking about how to create our own yellow brick road....because sometimes the quest and the journey and the destination are all the same. The journey sometimes becomes the destination, and consequently, the after looking back on ones life, the destination has evolved because of a quest filled journey. And really, there's no place like home, so what better path for our yellow brick road to take than one that leads us home? But the timing for painting the bricks yellow has been off. Today, however, was the perfect day for it -- pleasant weather, no rain in the forecast, and best of all, house work that can wait.

And by golly, I'm turning 50 tomorrow. This yellow brick road is a good reminder that this is my life, this is where it is, and this is where it goes....and it's a happy place to be.

This is not a box.

This is 22" x 24" oil on board.