Portrait
The Wife of Mr. Fix-it
14″ x 11″ x 3″. Copyright 2009 by Lynn Bridge
In looking back over my posts from last fall (2009), I was surprised to see that I had written nothing about one of my personal favorite mosaics I have made. This mosaic made of hardware from the garage, sprinkled with other odds-and-ends, is a portrait of my friend, Robin. Believe it or not, I was actually studying a snapshot of Robin as I was making this picture!
Her husband now has a second career of maintaining our 1926-era church building, which is a full-time job. (We all need extra maintenance when we get old and creaky.) Danny’s birthday was coming up and I, gazing around the spartan walls of his office, decided to make him a picture of his wife for his birthday present. You have family pictures on the walls of your work space, right? Are your pictures made of cement and hardware, too?
What are you looking for in a portrait, either one you make yourself, or one you commission an artist to make for you? Do you look for a good physical likeness? Do you hope that the artist captures the personality of the subject? In this portrait, I was hoping to capture basic physical features, such as face shape and the line of the hair. I had some small hope of portraying a bit of Robin’s personality by the tilt of her head. But, mostly, by using the materials of his everyday work life, I was capturing the personality of the portrait’s new owner.
There is some precedence for this in art history. Back in the day when European art patrons regularly commissioned paintings for their homes, churches, and public buildings, it was expected that the artist would imbue the art with a feel for the patron’s wealth, prestige, power, or piety. Even if the subject were historical, Biblical, or mythological, the artist would paint a portrait of his patron into the crowd scene. This preserved the fame of the patron for all to see.
By Renaissance art standards, my portrait is nothing less than grotesque and unrecognizable. Our age is more forgiving about what is expected of art, so I can hope that humor and personal meaning is quite enough.
I bet you could put even more personality in a piece than some representational portraitists!
Ha-ha! Thanks, Hannah!
I really like the depth of this piece!
Hi, Karen. Thank you so much!
I’m fascinated by this portrait for several reasons.
First; it a fine work able to stand on its own merit. I really enjoy simply wandering around in it.
Second; it’s made with items easily found and very appealing to any of us who love tools and hardware stuff.
Third; you’ve given me the gift of a new way to approach a current challenge. In the art circle (that I attend monthly)…the current event is to create a self portrait…that felt daunting…but NOW…I may have a place of entrance…***playing*** with completely different materials.
Thanks Lynn!!
Iona, thanks for your kind words! Really, when you are working with cement, you can cram whatever you want into it, which makes it SO appealing to me. Of course, if you are making a mosaic for the long haul, you have to take chemical reactions into account and properly protect materials that can’t stand the alkaline environment. Mirror backing, for example, will disintegrate if it is not protected from the cement. But, I am hoping that, over time, the hardware portrait will morph into something else- perhaps rusty. Sort of a slow performance piece, really.
I’m glad I could encourage you to find yourself in your own self-portrait project. One of my favorite things to do is to help other people see things in a new way!
Be sure to blog about the self-portrait.
Hi Lynn,
I love the way you’ve broadened the idea of “portrait” with your use of materials. Very intriguing. This could be a whole series of pieces!
Thanks for your encouragement, Lynn. You bring up an interesting point- a series. How do you keep yourself on task long enough to create a series?