TIT FOR TAT Self Portrait
12” x 12” oil on board
Historically artists have put symbols into portrait paintings to help give the subject some kind of context and to show what Is important to them.
So, this is part of a recent self-portrait... I feel my hands represent me far more than my face does!
I am a very practical, creative person, I rely heavily on these abilities... it is my hands that make me who I am and so they feature prominently in the foreground....
Aristotle stated, "The aim of Art is to present not the outward appearance of things, but their inner significance; for this, not the external manner and detail, constitutes true reality."
I have always found it curious how people say “oh I’m really not a ‘hat person’”, it seems you either are or you’re not with no in between! Me- I love a hat!
It amuses me, when people come to hire a costume from me, how they refer to a hat as a ‘titfer’.
For those of you not familiar with ‘cockney rhyming slang’- ‘tit for tat’ = hat!
Hats play a large part in establishing identity - as an individual or as part of a group - think Michael Jackson, Carmen Miranda or the armed forces for example, they also help place a character in history:
Tricorn = Georgian, top hat = Victorian, trilby = 1920s-1940’s...