Strong Women Series #9 - Bella Donna

 

My mother has this little bronze sculpture:

One time when my folks were traveling on the Baja peninsula, Mexico,

 in San Jose del Cabo;

they wandered into a shop and saw this, 

fell in love with her, bought and brought her home.

Mom named her Bella Donna, after the Lilly Amaryllis belladonna, or Naked Lady Lilly - 

which they actually grew on their place in Oregon. When they bloom, nothing else

comes up out of the ground but the stalk 

and the blossom ... thus, naked.

One day when I was visiting home,

I sketched the statue.

When thinking about another strong woman for my 9th

painting, I came across this sketch in one of my sketchbooks.

I felt like she was strong; a powerful nude figure (even though small in size)

sculpted by a strong artist. 

I have not been able to find Anita Corta, sculptor, 

when I google for her.

If anyone knows of this artist I would love to find out more about her.

Below is a photo of my mom's hands dusting Bella Donna,

for scale. Bella Donna is tiny!

Anyhoo, I am showing you guys this next painting process

in just a few photos ... I didn't take many during the progress.

I'm not entirely sure why I chose this surface;

it is Micaceous Iron Oxide. 

I am all about experimentation, that is probably why. 

The mica particles reflect light

and is iridescent. It is very rough!

I used some green pencil to do my drawing.

Bella looked a little lonely seated up there on her pedestal. 

I decided to put some Lillies around and about her.

Funnily enough, I liked the way colored pencil looked on the surface, 

so I actually kept those marks there as the stems, 

instead of painting them in.