Blue Lady
Pastel on canvas, 2007
1220 x 1000
The colours in this large work in pastel are blues, greens and brown, with a touch of red for the tiny fingernails.
Here we see a central figure of a sad woman. She faces to the viewer’s left. She is partially encased by a brown, rectangle which looks like wood- some sort of barrier. It is as if she is hiding in front of it. She wears blue garments which cover her head, chest and all of her lower half. Her arms, (being a light blue) are exposed. Her hands are near her face, as if reaching close to the face for comfort and tear wiping. Her face is very sad, with tears running down the cheeks.
The image is abstracted but with enough definition to understand clear narrative. It is understood that the woman is crying, that she is sad, that she covers herself head to toe in blue wrappings though her hands peek out from behind the swathes, with the arms being exposed. It is clear she seems to find solace in this private area behind what could even be a wooden door?
The image of the woman rests onto a light green and blue type of scalloped podium. Behind the brown ‘door’ is a bright green background with a blue green ‘sky’. There is an indication that there is life beyond the brown door if only she takes one break from her sorrow to see the beauty that can be ahead of her. There is a large tear shaped bubble of water falling down from that leaf on the upper left-hand side of the image. Does the bubble represent a large tear?... or life from life?
She only needs to lift a hand to touch it. She only just needs to have just some courage to see the way out. To not be afraid.