Woman Inhaling

Thomasin Dewhurst · 04-30-2009, 10:59 PM

This is oil on canvas 31" x 32". Again, there is a much better image of it on my blog.

Alexandra Tyng · 05-09-2009, 04:34 PM

Thomasin,

I just saw this--my apologies for missing it. Wow, I love how you have linked the figure and background with the brushstrokes and gradually changing colors. As a result the figure seems to truly emerge from its surroundings. The interesting thing about the title, "inhaling," is that the soft edges around the figure make me think of air being agitated and sucked in towards the nose! Very bizarre, maybe, but interesting, There's a lot of motion and expression in the whole thing.

Thomasin Dewhurst · 05-10-2009, 11:33 AM

Thanks very much, Alex. You always have such insightful responses. I have a feeling (although it is probably just a coincidence) that I might have had a subconscious response to the recent flu concerns and general environmental worries. I feel like this person is very much unformed - reminiscent of human being as they have been or as they have thought themselves, but growing aware of a changing and probably dangerous environment. The woman, inhaling, seems to be making a step toward coming to terms with and working with the new world, by placing her trust in, moving herself into, and taking in the atmosphere/environment by breathing. She is making the beginnings of a new, adaptable, and working relationship with the space in which she exists.

Carlos Ygoa · 05-10-2009, 03:11 PM

Beautiful new piece, Thomasin!
The head has this elegant, noble quality to it that only masterfully done pieces have, a very commanding, at the same time mysterious presence... Your brushwork is once again enviable--I always say this about your work, with so much economy you are able to say so much as far as tangibility and plasticity of the form goes.
Very fine work!

Carlos Ygoa · 05-10-2009, 03:17 PM

By the way, I forgot to say: MASTERFUL use of blue-greens on your flesh!--I am completely envious!

Thomasin Dewhurst · 05-11-2009, 10:57 AM

Thank-you very much, Carlos. I enjoyed doing it, and really enjoyed using the blue greens with the peaches and picks of the flesh. It is quite a powerful thing - the blue/peach complementarity - it gives a sense of life and actuality (I am using this word rather than "realism" because if the texture of the paint is right, it gives a kind of unflowered, unembellished, more direct and deeper feeling of a living presence. I am doing quite a few horse portrait commissions at the moment, and I find blues in the light and in the shadows (with the chestnut or dark bay colours of the coat) really take it away from being the beginning of a painting to something near to finished, without having to put in excess detail.