Thursday, October 6, 2011

Dooce's Favorites. Painting number four

As I continue to share the paintings from the Bangladesh series, I return frequently to the sites that have inspired this work - of course, Heather's posts on Dooce, where this began for me, and also to the education page on Every Mother Counts.  If you have a few moments, watch the videos and read the fact sheets about Global Maternal Health.  The video about Obstetric Fistula and how it can effect a woman's entire world will move you.

One of the pictures that Heather took on her travels that really grabbed me was a line up of women waiting for health care at an Upazila Hospital.  (That is a photo from the Bangladesh Album on Every Mother Counts' facebook page)


I loved everything about this photo.  The variety of fabric, the patterns of light, the children being held by their mothers (the bare bottoms are too cute!)


The first day that I sat down to start this piece I painted for 6 hours straight.  By the time I put down my brush I could barely move my hand!  I did however manage to take several progress shots, and I have put them together in a short video.




I wanted to use the white squares of their paperwork as a design element that connected one end of the painting to the other - a visual connect-the-dots.  
Each woman has a distinct personality, along with her unique dress.  With the fabric and their profiles being so defined, I decided not to add the features to their faces.  They were already Beautiful.



This painting will be auctioned on-line starting October 10th to benefit Team Every Mother Counts participating in the New York City Marathon on November 6th.


3 comments:

Jackie said...

I LOVE this one :) I've liked them all to this point, but this one really stands out for me. I think I love the story behind the photograph and the painting and the colours and the everything! Wonderful job, as always :)

Darlene Young said...

Beautiful painting. I love the idea about it and enjoyed seeing the progression of the piece. I find too that it is visually uplifting with all the bright colours and the women look strong, graceful, and cohesive.

Raad Ahmad said...

Hi, I'm from Bangladesh and i really like these paintings. It's a totally different treatment of all the common and everyday-scenes we see. I hope you don't mind me sharing this page in a group in facebook. Great Work.