#Selfie

I have been wanting to create a new self-portrait for several years, so when I found out the prompt was Identity, I knew exactly where to start. So who am I? Artistically, I have been part of the creative duo known as Pixeladies for 16 years. But I’m also just me. At first I thought I shouldn’t work with text, because that’s the Pixeladies signature style. But I worked with text before I was a Pixelady. I’ve created digitally before I was a Pixelady. So here I am in all my analog and digital glory.

I enjoy reading about processes, so I thought you might like to see mine. I started with wonderful photograph that Bonnie McCaffery took of me in April. Then I played with it in Photoshop. I like the look of simple woodcuts, so it’s no wonder that one of the iterations was this.

I knew my head had to be exploding, so I digitally cut apart the top of my head and moved them into place. I wasn’t quite satisfied, so I used the twirl filter in Photoshop to create a bunch of swirled parts.

Then I had to decide what to do with my face. Imbed Text? Other art or drawings? I scanned some collaged and stitched magazine paper I made a few years ago to see if I would like it.

I have been collecting self-portrait text for years, so I dug out the folder and started scanning the words and phrases into the computer.

I added this to the portrait and decided I liked both the text and the rectangles created by the spaces between the collage scans.

I then picked enough words out of the folder to scan eighteen pages (11” x 17”) worth. I put each phrase on a separate layer in Photoshop and hired my grandson to help me name all the layers with the words depicted. That was a lot of work. I’m glad he’s a faster typist than I am.