Self Portrait

I decided to create a self portrait based on items that reflect who I am after reading Liz Lamoreaux's 'Inner Excavation'...and this is the result.  I decided to set my items on an old favorite chair which I picked up at the side of the road a number of years ago and to place the chair on our hardwood floors to represent the log cabin of my heart.  I love that the chair is painted white and also that it's paint is peeling, rustic, worn.  It's the chair I sit at to type my words every day.  I knew without a doubt that this 'self-portrait' would include a book, and not just any book but 'Wuthering Heights' because not only is it my all-time favorite book, hands down, but also because it is blue, my favorite color.  When I looked around at my art supplies, I briefly considered my pochade (which I absolutely love), some canvas, tubes of paint or brushes, but then I decided on my journal/sketchbook.  I write or draw in it daily and it goes with me whenever I travel.  There are many of these on my bookshelf, each decorated and labelled differently depending on what I felt was needed in my life at the time - my word-of-the-year is 'still' and a card from a friend decorates the front (an ode to my chair paintings) which makes me happy every time I look at it as I think of the work that has filled my hands for many years and of the cherished friend who thought of me when she saw this card.  I added my Waterman pen which has been with me for almost twenty years - I love the weight of it in my hands and the flow of the ink when I draw and write.  My favorite mug, created by Connie Pike, is also blue and holds the hot chocolate or tea I drink daily.  And finally, I decided to include a painting, which was an anniversary gift, created by Grant Leier (my favorite artist), and the words on it 'you make me feel brand new' make me think of my husband every time I look at it.  I love the colors, the fact that it's painted with acrylics, the images of leaves and feathers.  And finally, my tortoise shell glasses.  I have always worn Nana Mouskouri-esque glasses.  When I was a child my mother selected them for me, and as I grew older, I felt the most comfortable in them.  For years I was embarrased by wearing glasses as I wore them at a time when it was not considered fashionable at all, but now I love them for many reasons...the main one being that I feel grateful to have something that allows me to see well.