Campus Canvas| Stephanie Looks Over Her Shoulder

This painting started from an image of a former coworker from the Visual Resources Library here at Vassar. She is an artist who photographs herself in many oddly interesting poses. She has become my muse and has given me permission to paint any photo of her that I want. I had the best time painting this one because she has the most amazing eyes. Also because I know her, I can hear her saying something silly or making a crazy face. I loved pushing past the actual image, making her eyes bulge far more than they really do. I didn't feel forced to make her perfect because she is not fussy and is completely unpretentious, which I find wonderful. I love beautiful art, but I also love the strange and unexpected. So using her weird and often hilarious images as inspiration makes it, for me, a perfect marriage.

I enjoy using people as subjects to paint. I find them so compelling, especially because they are all so unique. But I am also very interested in seeing how other artists can take a piece of paper, pencil, paint or whatever and reproduce and interpret a face or a mood, a movement or a scene, so beautifully. There is so much creativity in the world and it is all truly inspiring to me. It makes me want to make art and to learn how to use different mediums including photos and computer art. ­­­

—Pamela Hall