The Bird with Crocheted Wings
John Christopher Borrero is a phenomenal artist. He is also a gentle, wise human being whom I am really honored to have as a very valued acquaintance. He’s the sort of fellow that touches lives in a positive way. It was no surprise to me to discover that he is descended from a woman of strength and character; her name is Mercedes. She will be 92 years old this month. John asked me to do a portrait of her some time back, and sent me a couple of dozen pictures of her at various times in her life. I was most captivated by the pictures taken of her in the last ten years, but couldn’t seem to come up with a composition that didn’t look like ‘Lucy in the Field with Flowers’...then John told me something his grandmother had said to him recently: “She says little birds "with crocheted wings" sit on the piano to listen to her play.”
That phrase was visually evocative for me, and I couldn’t let go of it. I saw her mind roaming free, a ‘bird with crocheted wings’, tethered by habit to her 90+ year-old body. Mercedes was born in Sosua, in the Dominican Republic, quite possibly the most beautiful place on earth. I found many captivating photographs of this resort town... with the composition pictured above, I was able to use my favorite photo of Sosua, and my favorite photo of Mercedes as references.
What I’ve done so far is a very rough placement sketch; I will begin adding values of light and dark today. I will post progress photos as I go along, but this isn’t going to be a quick painting. There’s still a lot of problem-solving to be accomplished, with her hand positions and the exact wind-blown status of her dress and crocheted shawl. Hopefully, I’ve been loose enough in the under-sketch that I won’t be unable to correct things as I go along.