For our online group, we were challenged to create something inspired by Frida Kahlo. I admired many of her portraits – knowing I am not an illustrator or great portrait artist – so I decided to use her color scheme as inspiration with her words:
Nothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away.
– Frida Kahlo 1954
I started with the word Absolute in large block letters, then added layer upon layer of shapes, colors and lines to fill the page. The text for the quote was added last. I wanted to utilize her Mexican heritage and colors to fill as much of the page as possible. I must admit, it was really fun!
I read a bit of Frida’s life story, how she lived with pain after being in a bus accident as a young girl. Many surgeries later she would always be in pain, mostly bed ridden. There were good days and bad days, more bad than good. She said that she was inspired by the flowers and colors she could see from her bedroom window, and painted so many portraits of herself as that is the person she saw most. I have to admire her drive to create, even in pain, using such vibrant and lively colors. As I drew lines and shapes in bold colors, I could understand and sympathize with her need to bring herself joy through color. I could also understand how her words may not seem positive to us, yet to a bedridden creative they must have felt true every day of her life.
Life is fleeting, unpredictable, and we cannot control what happens to us. We can control how we react. We can sob in pain and give up, or create colorful art with whatever we can see that inspires us. Either way, it is our choice. I wonder what choice you are making today, what choice will we both make tomorrow. I hope it is to live our best life with color and a passion to create.
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