STUDY OF ROOPA DUDLEY
I would start with a quote:“I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson .
It is said that we are the product of what we eat, what we read and what we do in our leisure. I believe there is a whole lot of truth in it. So I decided to paint my self portrait with that in mind.
Decoding Enigma. It may appear at first like a colorful Still Life painting but it is actually who I am inside. My private self that only a few have had privilege to know. When I turned 40 in Summer of 2012, I decided it was a good time to bare my soul for all to know as to WHO I AM. So that my life is not some kind of a mystery left for Art Critics and Historians to solve.
Starting from the top background. The Gears that I find very appealing in most Steampunk Paintings are symbolic of how we are all connected to each other. The workings of the Cosmos and the importance of Time.
Coming forward to the Mask. I love theater and drama (and my life has had a fair share of it) and how reality is even more fantastic than fiction - like the circumstances when I met my husband. I wore a grotesque Werewolf mask on our very first date to scare him away. I was intimidated by him as he was way above my league. Five months later we were married! It was the most amazing first date from the beginning to the end. In this Painting however, I created a pretty mask and decorated it with Pearls of Wisdom that comes through detachment and observation.
The pots on each side have my favorite quote which is barely visible as they are both covered by foliage that signify legacy that I am leaving through my two daughters. The pot on the left reads as follows:
“Alas, how terrible is wisdom when it brings no profit to the man that's wise!” --Sophocles, Oedipus Rex.
The one in the right reads as follows:
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; What is essential is invisible to the eye". --Le Petit Prince (1943) novel by Antoine de Saint Exupéry.
Both of these quotes have had a deep impact on me in my College years as to me they both reveal profound SECRETS of Life. One dealing with the Head and the other dealing with the Heart. In between those two truths lies Harmony which makes my Soul.
Then comes the part of my favorite Books that I have read and cherished - all arranged from Left to Right as follows: Starting with Frida Kahlo, Enneagram, M.C Esher, Tamra de Lempicka, Holy Bible, Rene Magritte, Picture Of Dorian Gray, The Little Prince, Sherlock Holmes, O' Keeffe, Candid, Homer and ending with Roopa Dudley. There is no book written about me so far, but I am quite certain that there will be one containing all my paintings sometime in the future.
In the center I have my favorite Coffee Table with two rather large Chess Pieces symbolic of my two daughters. The Bishop is my daughter Sophia who is brilliant and perspective. The Knight is my daughter Layla who is artistic and unpredictable. These two Chess pieces although bearing same value but are dynamically different and that is very fascinating to me watching them slowly blossoming into amazing little ladies.
Lastly there is a handsome cup of hot tea. That is my husband. He is my perfect cup of Tea and I enjoy him physically and intellectually. He is my Soul mate and my life is absolutely beautiful with him in it. He completes me.
It is said that we are the product of what we eat, what we read and what we do in our leisure. I believe there is a whole lot of truth in it. So I decided to paint my self portrait with that in mind.
Decoding Enigma. It may appear at first like a colorful Still Life painting but it is actually who I am inside. My private self that only a few have had privilege to know. When I turned 40 in Summer of 2012, I decided it was a good time to bare my soul for all to know as to WHO I AM. So that my life is not some kind of a mystery left for Art Critics and Historians to solve.
Starting from the top background. The Gears that I find very appealing in most Steampunk Paintings are symbolic of how we are all connected to each other. The workings of the Cosmos and the importance of Time.
Coming forward to the Mask. I love theater and drama (and my life has had a fair share of it) and how reality is even more fantastic than fiction - like the circumstances when I met my husband. I wore a grotesque Werewolf mask on our very first date to scare him away. I was intimidated by him as he was way above my league. Five months later we were married! It was the most amazing first date from the beginning to the end. In this Painting however, I created a pretty mask and decorated it with Pearls of Wisdom that comes through detachment and observation.
The pots on each side have my favorite quote which is barely visible as they are both covered by foliage that signify legacy that I am leaving through my two daughters. The pot on the left reads as follows:
“Alas, how terrible is wisdom when it brings no profit to the man that's wise!” --Sophocles, Oedipus Rex.
The one in the right reads as follows:
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; What is essential is invisible to the eye". --Le Petit Prince (1943) novel by Antoine de Saint Exupéry.
Both of these quotes have had a deep impact on me in my College years as to me they both reveal profound SECRETS of Life. One dealing with the Head and the other dealing with the Heart. In between those two truths lies Harmony which makes my Soul.
Then comes the part of my favorite Books that I have read and cherished - all arranged from Left to Right as follows: Starting with Frida Kahlo, Enneagram, M.C Esher, Tamra de Lempicka, Holy Bible, Rene Magritte, Picture Of Dorian Gray, The Little Prince, Sherlock Holmes, O' Keeffe, Candid, Homer and ending with Roopa Dudley. There is no book written about me so far, but I am quite certain that there will be one containing all my paintings sometime in the future.
In the center I have my favorite Coffee Table with two rather large Chess Pieces symbolic of my two daughters. The Bishop is my daughter Sophia who is brilliant and perspective. The Knight is my daughter Layla who is artistic and unpredictable. These two Chess pieces although bearing same value but are dynamically different and that is very fascinating to me watching them slowly blossoming into amazing little ladies.
Lastly there is a handsome cup of hot tea. That is my husband. He is my perfect cup of Tea and I enjoy him physically and intellectually. He is my Soul mate and my life is absolutely beautiful with him in it. He completes me.