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Self-Portraits
by
Rita Asfour
Dr. Tracy insisted that I include two self-portraits, one for each side of the Artemus Concert Hall display wall.
Self portraits are not easy to do. For some artists they may be an ego trip. In my case I was always pressured by
dealers to paint them because they implied the artist had arrived. I did what I had to do but with great difficulty.
The first self portrait was painted shortly after I started selling my paintings in Beverly Hills. The challenge was
that all the other artists were doing it and so what was I afraid of.
The second portrait was a few years after I became a mother. There you can see I had slowed down a little and was
having second thoughts about everything.
In both cases I painted them from a photograph because I don’t have the patience to sit still in-front of a mirror to
paint myself.
I have since painted a few more but just to see how my portraiture techniques have changed with time.
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