Getting Ready with a Friend

This painting was inspired by:
1) one of my favourite painters, Berthe Morisot (who is more commonly known as one of the first "female Impressionists" but arguably actually was a pioneer in Expressionism) painted "Woman at her Toilette" between 1875 - 1880. It's a painting of a woman, with her back turned to the viewer, getting ready in front of a mirror as light fills the room and illuminates a vulnerable, but everyday experience. And;
2) a recent study that suggests that not everyone has inner speech, whether it's a monologue or a back-and-forth conversation with yourself. This was quite surprising to me as I have always had inner speech since I was child and I had assumed that everyone had this too!

Taken together, we have a woman preoccupied in conversation with herself as she gets ready for the day, ignorant of the viewer's gaze, and making us, as the viewer, feel like we have unintentionally stepped into someone else's private moment.

This work is unframed, but will look great in a frame as well, which you can purchase through Bluethumb.

I've tried my best to provide clear and accurate photos of this work, but please note that colour nuances may not be captured perfectly by digital media and vary from screen to screen.

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I create art as a hobby, both to completely disconnect from my corporate job and to reconnect with my inner child who loved to draw, design, imagine and make. I’m self-taught, with a love for the different modern western art movements that occurred between the late 1800s and in to the first half of the 20th century.

My intention when I paint is not to achieve realism, but to bring the viewer into the painting to experience a fleeting, yet common human feeling, thought or observation - a familiarity to remind us that we're not alone in our experiences. To express this, I like to play with colour and loose brushstrokes, and be open to a range of styles from landscapes and figurative paintings, to still lifes and abstraction.

After completing a Masters Degree in Art History in 2020 I realised that there are so many other kinds and styles of art that inspire me and for which I hope to continue studying and reflecting in my own practice. I aim to learn something new with everything I create, which is what motivates me to continue to make art.

You can find more on my Instagram @jhoannamonteart