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| Rembrandt Self Portrait Age 63 |
Rembrandt's Late Self-Portraits,
Elizabeth Jennings
(1975) excerpt
You are
confronted with yourself. Each year
The pouches
fill, the skin is uglier.
Into
yourself, beyond. Your brush's care
Is a
humility at one with craft.
There is no
arrogance. Pride is apart
From this
self-scrutiny. You make light drift
The way you
want. Your face is bruised and hurt
But there is
still love left . . .
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| Sherry in the Cubist Style |
Since becoming
a serious artist eight years ago, I have spent many hours pouring over the
paintings done by the masters I most admire, looking for what I can learn from
each one. My husband, who is a poet, has
often given me a poem written about a painting, an Ekphrasis, such as this one
about Rembrandt’s work. So at some point
it occurred to me that I might also find inspiration not only by looking at
masterworks, but also by re-reading my favorite poems and listening to my
favorite songs. The more I mature as an
artist, the more I am convinced that all of the arts spring from the same or a
similar source in our souls – a psychologist would say from our unconscious.
Wherever our inspiration comes from, immersing ourselves in a variety of
artistic resources, not just paintings is bound to stimulate our personal creativity, and painting a self-portrait is a fine way to begin that journey within.
