How Reference Material is selected for the "Berber Woman" Painting

Enzie Shahmiri
2012-10-01T15:48:00-07:00

At the end of each month it's crunch time for me. Paintings need to be varnished and framed and made ready for exhibit at the Artist Eye Gallery in Laguna Beach. This also means that whatever I am working on has to get put on hold until those paintings make it ut of the studio.

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At the end of each month it's crunch time for me. Paintings need to be varnished and framed and made ready for exhibit at the Artist Eye Gallery in Laguna Beach. This also means that whatever I am working on has to get put on hold until those paintings make it ut of the studio.

Now that that's out of the way work on the Berber Woman can continue.

Most of the headdress and jewelry is in place and the real detail work can begin.I mentioned in a

previous post that I spend a great amount of time researching my subjects. I love to learn new things and enjoy reading about other cultures. The inspiration for color schemes within the paintings often come from other sources.

I needed a dark background to make the figure stand out and wanted it to have some mystique about it. When I spotted the color of this door and the scroll work on the outside, I found the perfect match. I have to be careful however to only allude to the backdrop, otherwise, the attention of the viewer will go towards the background rather than staying on the woman.

A pair of Berber amulets, worn as a woman's head ornament. Silver, coral, turquoise, amber, carnelian and assorted glass beads (Ait Beni Mtir, Middle Atlas. Morocco 19th century). I am putting my own twist on the headdress, but now you see how the puzzle pieces start to come together as I inch towards the finish line.