MUSEUM PORTRAIT (Weekly Art Project #19, 2020)

Our time traveling in Egypt was quickly coming to an end.  With a few days in Cairo before flying out there was a LOT we wanted to pack in to that brief amount of time.  The most important being a visit to the Egyptian Museum.

Sadly, as with many museums, cameras were most definitely forbidden.  Therefore I have no photographic images to remind me of the extraordinary artifacts I was privileged to see in just a few short hours.  Let's just say...I had to remind myself to breathe.  The sculptures, the carved wood & stone, the exquisite plaster work, the gold from Tutankhamen's tomb, the sarcophagi....sigh...EVERYTHING!  When walking through a place like that, knowing that this is likely to be the only time in my life to see these remarkable & beautiful objects, it feels that if I don't breathe time will slow down so that I can absorb it all the more permanently!

One of the sections I most wanted to see was focused on Akhenaten . I have long been fascinated by him, partly because of his bravery to change the whole way in which his people worshiped, but mainly because I've found the elongated body features with their exaggerations visually beautiful.

The above photo was taken in a museum where I was obviously allowed to take a photo, but sadly I don't recall where that was.  It may have been Alexandria. I can see why I took it though, & why, even though it's slightly out of focus, I kept it in my photo collection. Not only is the face  elongated (albeit slightly), but I LOVE the hair treatment.  Therefore, I'm choosing her as my muse to represent 'the Museum experience'!

After drawing a resemblance of her within an A4 space, I gathered my fabrics, stitched in the design & got ready to cut back.  Here's how it went...

Here she is, the final outcome.
I did consider doing this piece in a landscape orientation, but to do so would have meant losing that wonderful long sinuous neck, & I felt the neck was important to keep!
One of the successful aspects of this piece is that I achieved it in a relatively short period of time!  Yesterday was rather time-restricted in terms of studio work, & when that happens I need to be able to adjust my expectations in terms of design complexity.  This is quite a simple design, but it captures the components I wanted it to; exaggerated eye, long features, skin tone & a nod to that fabulous hair.  I'm also pleased with the choice of background fabric too. It may not be perfect & is certainly not a resolved enough design to reproduce for sale purposes, but it is a sufficient aide-de-memoir for me.  Sometimes sufficient is enough!!