Sarra Katie
The story of a Woman\'s legs
My ideas of painting subjects
Intimate oils collection of legs.
The story of a Woman’s Legs.
We dance, we play, we run, we jog, we skip, we hop, we march, we stretch, we cross, we curl, we strut, we bend, we pose , We wear high heels that tighten our muscles, we wear boots for walking for miles and miles, we wear slippers to be soft, we lounge in deep beds and under covers, we feel the morning dew on grass , the warm afternoon sand under our knees, we bare our skin for the sun to kiss, we reveal our expanses by moonlight, we stand astride a lover’s tongue, we tremble, we lose our selves in love, we are weak at the knees, we open and close like a flower’s petals, we are caressed by skirts, we are stroked, we are nibbled, we swim in cold rivers that shock the flesh, we shiver, we are carried weightless by the sea, we carry our woman’s heart, we take her to safety, we deliver her to her dreams, we leap for pleasure, we soak in hot baths of bubbles and perfume, we are rubbed and dried, we are shaved, we are oiled, we are crowned with lace and elastic, we wear stockings to tantalise loving eyes.
These are body portraits that witness, celebrate, honour and explore with the people who join me in my studio the experience of being painted in their unique and universal uncovered beauty. Most of my work is as much about the experience as the finished painting and it is lovely to witness someone see themselves with loving eyes, forgetting all the parts of themselves that keep them small. Men and women come to my studio to enter into a unique relationship and a new mirroring has the potential to take place in this emergent process. Each painting is created in my warm Temple of the body in my studio with music, energy and heart. It is curious but not surprising that the person modeling intuitively becomes body aware of the brushstrokes in relation to their body. Sometimes a person may intuitively know which part of them I am painting! It is almost like being brushed with an invisible brush, each curve enlivening in my gaze.
“I wanted to feel comfortable to be with my body as it is. I have spent sometime thinking that i should be skinny or slim, but I didn't do anything about it so I must be comfortable as I am. I wanted a record of this, how I feel about my body and that I am comfortable.”
How the model feels about her body will be influenced by this process. What it feels like to undress, be witnessed, how she is witnessed reflects her feelings about that encounter. It encapsulates what it feels like to be a woman in a social setting in our culture. This is always a complex experience with mixtures of thoughts and feelings that can be enabling and constraining at the same time. It can be a potentially healing experience... a new mirroring can take place which can open up new dialogue with how we feel and see our selves.
I can see the goddess in all the women I paint... if she can feel it in her too then the encounter is potentially transformational.
“I felt very alive and energised while being painted. It is very liberating thing to do and it feels safe. It is a bit like being caressed and I felt admired and that made me feel lovely”
The air brushed ideals are there for both sexes to feel inadequate beside. Many people feel alone with their body against impossible ideals internal and external. What I am exploring here is the uniqueness of the individual’s energy, sexuality and beauty both in its masculine and feminine forms. There are many parallel issues between masculine body identity and feminine body identity. Of course we all have both in us as internalised influences combined with our actual sex.
“Its the best thing to do when your forty. Ever since I was painted I havn’t been so hung up about my body and I dont think so much about its flaws, it can be saggy and it dosn’t matter. My husband has noticed that I have been less tense. I feel so much more relaxed-It was a very liberating experience and very healing and a lovely memory. You don’t feel vulnerable, Katie made me feel very safe. The experience was very nurturing. I felt proud of what I had done and proud to tell other people. The reaction from other people was very positive and people were very excited with what I had done. You only live life once and I will do it again, this time I will let my hair down and lounge with grapes!”
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