Some drawings and a painting.
 

Hi,
some of you have already seen this in Reston, but at the request of some of those who were not there, here are a few new works:
-1: " Sahyanh", 15" X 12", cont

And here is " Entre chien et loup", oil, 18" X 24".
It's a self-portrait, and the title means " between dogs and wolves", a french expression meaning the sunset, as I used sunset light in this portrait, I thought it would make a nice mysterious title...

"Entre chien et loup", is very cool looking. I am not sure I can formulate correctly what exactly draws me to this image. I think it is the combinations of Trompe L'oeil effect against some undeveloped areas of underpainting, against the rendition of the figure. There are several elements of different stages of the painting process that are thrown together on one canvas and which compete favorably against each other, making this an interesting painting.

Wow! Very good Marina. I love your innovative compositions and your playing with shadows. I saw these on your website a day or two ago (I couldn't wait any longer to be even more envious of your super drawing ability, and was even more impressed than expected to be). Thanks for posting them.

WOW Marina have you been busy! These are all gorgeous! I especially like the freshness of the self portrait, but the others are fabulous too!

Marina, these are terrific. I saw some of them in D.C. but not all. The one of the man is just wonderful -- a competition winner for sure!

I also like the contemporary and fun approach you took with your self portrait, though you are much prettier than that in person!

Enzie, Thomasin, Terri, Michele : thank you!

Enzie, Yes you formulate it correctly. The idea for the beginning of this self portrait was to have the gaze in the shadow, I always was fascinated by some portraits where you can almost not see the eyes. And when I was developing this idea, it came to my mind that it would be a good idea to have different levels of reality from the underpainting to the trompe-l'oeil...

Thomasin, yes i'm beginning to have fun with light and shadows, there are so many things you can explore only with one human being and a light. But I think I'm not the only one, if I remember well, don't you have fun even shopping bulbs? :)

Michele: Ha! You are the first to make such a compliment to my portrait of " Mr D". I think he was a bit eclipsed by the baby portraits which are more unusual to see. I'm supposed to make a painting with this but didn't have time yet. It's the first portrait I made from my husband: He's so proud now, you just made a new friend!

Beautiful work, Marina.

Marina,

You know how much I'm in awe of your work, since I saw these in Reston, but I just want to say again that they are incredibly powerful works. You really have something to say and you are saying it clearly. I can't say which I like the best--they are all amazing.

Marina, your work is a feast for the eyes, lovely and mysterious.
Ilaria

I just want to second everyone's words here. These are very rich and sensitive pieces. I loved all of them.

Thank you for being a fresh breath (composition wise). Beautiful work!

Marina--

What fantastic pieces! I also saw them a few days ago while I was lurking around visiting other members websites (I do that sometimes to get inspired) and I was greatly impressed with your drafting ability as well as your handling of limited colour. I agree with Michelle about your husband

Fabulous work!

Dear Marina,

These portraits are so stunning! I love them all, but you should get a prize on your husband's.

It was such a privilege to see these masterwork originals in Reston, just over a week ago. You deservedly drew quite an eminent crowd around you! Being the shutter-click compulsive guy I am, I had to document some of the buzz around your portfolio of drawings.... I spy:

Yuqi Wang,
Juan Martinez,
Linda Brandon, and
Marvin Mattelson,

among the onlookers praising you! I am glad I got the chance too! Thanks for sharing these!

Bravo!

Garth

Thank you Julie, Ilaria, Alex ,Claudemir, Ngaire ,Carlos ,Tom and Garth !

Carlos: I'm afraid that the rope will remain a bit mysterious, unless a psychanalist manage to explain it! ( My attachment to art?)
It wasn't existing in the beginning of my project, but as I was developping this it appeared to me that something was missing... When I was trying to find what, the rope appeared to me like THE solution, resolving all my composition problems, adding another dimention, etc...

Garth,
I was so concentrated trying to answer ( and to understand) questions that I didn't realised you were taking so many photos! Thats a great thing you did, I tend to live in the present and forget lots of things unless there are some traces of it like photos...