But I’m Not a Fish

A few years after I created this fish art work, I got to see the exact same fish at an aquarium, and watch them move. It was unbelievably cool to see these fish swimming, after only having seen them in books. I had no idea how quick and flexible they were.

The girl swimming in the painting was me. At the time I painted this I was preparing for my wedding, moving my studio and furnishings to what would soon be my new home, giving a talk on what it was like to be a young woman artist, trying to promote a children’s book (which went nowhere), and mounting a solo art exhibit. I was literally drowning under a huge pile of things that all had to be done NOW! So it seemed appropriate to do a painting of me under water with the fishes. I posed for my underwater gig by standing first on one foot, and then the other, so that I could have both of them floating.