A Room of One’s Own

In 1929 Virginia Woolf published her essay A Room of One’s Own, based on a series of lectures given at women’s colleges in England. I don’t intend to discuss the essay but I do recommend that you read it. I will only refer to the fact that Virginia Woolf believed economic independence and the possibility of having one’s own space were essential to the act of creating – in her case with regard to literature.

As far as I’m concerned, after many years I have been able to achieve both things: sufficient economic independence and a space of my own where I can paint. Sometimes I cannot believe that in the last third of my life I have been given this wonderful gift. Being able to wake up every morning looking forward to going to my room and painting is amazing and I am so deeply grateful for it.

Each painting has its own story, its questions, doubts and solutions, and while I’m working on each one of them I am completely engrossed and concentrated in the colors, shapes, lights and shadows; everyday problems disappear when I’m faced with artistic dilemmas (the latter being usually much simpler to solve).

Hopefully, someday I’ll be able gather all my paintings together – and since I’m in absolutely no hurry, there will probably not be many – and see how the story of this part of my life has been reflected in the shapes and paint-strokes in each one. I wonder what they will have to say about the experiences I will have lived during these years.

(I have illustrated this post with a collage made up of parts of two of my paintings).