>Artists capture themselves in Self-Portrait Show
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2011
BY EILEEN LA FORGIA
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Art of the Self-Portrait Show 2011 features members of the Ridgewood Art Institute.
Rebecca Leer and Laura Paray, both instructors at the “Barn,” are co-chairing the show which will run through the end of the month. They conducted a very successful self-portrait workshop during the summer concentrating on traditional methods of rendering light effect, form, color harmony and likeness.
Leer said, “Kids did self-portraits some with instruction and many adults worked privately.”
“It’s exhilarating, though in self-portraiture you are vulnerable,” said Leer. “Self-portrait requires courage – one needs encouragement – ‘You can do it.’ In painting one’s self, the artist is transformed into a different environment. Do you paint, ‘Who I am’ or ‘What I want to be?’ Then, of course, there is the skill of the artist and the desire for a good painting.”
