Illustrating your Story

Have you ever thought of painting your own life, of illustrating it so that others would see not only who you are outside but also inside? Recently I have been thinking about the topic because my friend, who comments here as Parapluie, created a series of paintings and words to bring to life who she wanted to be, to illuminate her dreams of herself, to illustrate what she wanted in her life.

She began with one autobiographical painting. She went on to paint more until she realized she had a book-- When I get to be Older. Click on the link to see the story unfold. Her illustrations are delightful , colorful, cheerful, and blooming with energy as an upbeat look at aging. Follow it to the end as it takes you through the experiences one woman finds will or are fulfilling her dream.

Not always will our life paintings be cheerful. Frida Kahlo, the Mexican painter, is famous for being married to Diego Rivera, living a very unconventional life, going through much physical suffering, but most of all painting her life, her pain, her experiences through symbolic paintings of herself. Often unflattering and painful to view, they illustrated who she was, what she was going through as she did them. It still shows us all of that years after she has died.

Another painter who did this is Tina LeMarque, who wrote Warrior Woman, her journal as well as paintings of how she saw herself. LeMarque wrote about her life as an artist where she saw the artist as shaman. As with Kahlo, she was brutally honest in those paintings as well as her journal entries.

The idea of illustrating our story requires opening our self up to who we truly are. This can be hard, sometimes painful, as we delve deep within and decide not only who we are but who we want to be. If this isn't it, what would be? If this isn't totally it, what could I add that would make it so? It's easy to paint our triumphs. Is it equally so to paint our moments of failure?

You don't have to be an artist to do this. You can use collages, photographs, simple drawings, create word pictures, or simply sit down somewhere quiet and imagine what each painting would be. Choose a quality you have or would like to have, see yourself living, doing, being. Create a mental painting of it; then meditate on it.

Perhaps the main advantage of writing or illustrating our own stories is to help us focus on what is and what we want yet to be. If the story we are writing doesn't suit us, we can still edit and change it into one that does-- once we have faced our own truth.

Although I have done collages, some self portraits, painted my dreams, since Parapluie has been working on her book, since I saw her paintings and the words unfold, I have thought about it, but still don't have a firm idea of how I'd paint my own such book. What parts would I leave out? What parts would I decide were too boring? Which ones don't I even want to admit to myself are inside waiting to be lived? Would I paint the time I dunked myself-- 9 times no less and totally under-- in a symbolic bath that had been steeped in black walnut shells? I won't go into the why as it didn't work anyway.

If I did my own book, would it be what I should want? Or would it be what I do want? Would it be what I don't dare admit to myself I want? There are risks in focusing, but there is also much to be gained.

(Granny's Wind Dance at the top of this blog will be available as a print. If you are interested in buying one, go to the artist's blog, Umbrella Watercolors, for more information.)