ODE TO SLEEP
This Ode to Sleep series of portraits of sleeping children and adults has been created in a time of great sleep deprivation after having a second child. They have been created from a place of longing, an obsession over that which is lacking, and simply an interest in how people look while they sleep. The portraits in the series are painted from photos of myself, my husband, my children, and other sleep deprived friends and their children, but the portraits are not meant to be recognizable as specific people.
I painted these portraits on disassembled pieces of my husband’s white button down dress shirts. First I lightly sketch a portrait in watercolor pencil on the unprimed cotton. Then I gently place dabs of watercolor on the fabric and let the paint bleed together, making the most of the somewhat unpredictable results. The pieces are stretched over scrap pieces of quilt batting and stretched canvas to give the subjects a “pillow-y” surface to rest upon.
