The Brothers

I was asked the other day why I don't draw boys.

Good question.... my stammered answer? I don't know if I know how? I'm sure I could, if I tried... but as a girl interested in lace and silk chiffon and bows and frills and roses and romance I'm not quite sure how my style would translate with a more masculine subject matter.

Imagine that scene out of Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette where she is day-dreaming of her soldier.... That's kind-of what I was envisioning. (Okay I am joking.)

My real answer is that I draw what I happen to be most inspired by. When I started my "of lace and moss" series I was working in a flirty designer boutique surrounded by pretty little coquettes, and I was inspired to capture that ephemeral world in my paintings.

This reasoning no longer stands up as I currently train twice a week with a group of rough and ready boys who practice combat fighting and archery. (Right about here please reference the aforementioned imagery of gallant swashbuckling knight.) Not wanting to slip too far into the ditch of cheesy romanticism I hesitate here, as somehow, I draw the line a lot sooner when it comes to overly romanticized portraits of males, than of females.

One of the Hun tales I wanted to illustrate during my stay in the Győr Artist Residency was the Legend of the "Csoda Szarvas" - the mythical spirit stag that led the brothers Hunor and Magor to the land the Hungarians now call home. I planned to symbolize this "Hunt" with the two brothers noticing their "prey" in a modern environment. During the last four days of the residency a fellow artist arrived as a guest from the Budapest Fine Art University, and I was entranced by his work. It seemed fitting for him to be the muse for my Hun brothers as his diploma project was titled "Hunting Prayer" and depicted small vignettes of prey and game shooting.

Here are the beginning sketches of one of two pieces I am creating for the upcoming International Biennale I mentioned in the previous post.

Ps - Let me know what you think, this is after all, the first pair of boys to grace my art-blog since I began it!