Beautiful Essence

 'Demure'

 'Intuitive'

Last night a group of guys came by the Kirkland Art Walk and asked me to tell them about my women with the colorful hair. I froze, I bumbled, I rambled - I told them everything except about what the women were about. After they left a guy who works at LizzyKate Tea (hosting me for the Art Walk) told me I desperately needed to work on my 20 second Elevator Pitch!

So in the pre-dawn hours this morning I reached into my soul to pull out the story of what these women mean. Yes, telling the real bits leaves me a bit raw and vulnerable, but I also feel calmer, lighter, more centered.

This is what I should have told them:

Years ago I was mourning my aging body, my fading looks, my growing invisibility when a friend told me to look in the mirror every day and tell myself "I have a Beautiful Essence". Now I see not just myself, but other women, with new eyes - I look deeper and see so many stories and colorful life experiences. In my paintings I'm drawing out the beautiful essence, the colorful complexity, inside women.

So excited that 'Intuitive' and 'Demure' will be going to lovely new homes! I now have prints and cards of these (and the other girls) available in my Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/people/beverlyashgilbert