Friday, January 16, 2015

Meet Stinking Fish Studio Tour Artist Angela Menzies



Meet Stinking Fish Artist Angela Menzies

One of the members of the Stinking Fish Studio Tour, when I asked Angela for a 100 words about herself this was her reply.

"Years ago I started teaching art to children and one of the projects I like to work on with kids involves self image and how they see themselves. Mostly, kids see themselves in an overwhelming positive light. I saw girls choosing words like “Powerful”, “Beauty”, “Imagination”, “Awesome” and “Cool”. 

When I started asking women to come and model for me the response was usually pretty negative. I often heard things like “I hate my stomach”, “my breasts are saggy” and “I’m too skinny and boyish”. It made me sad; all I saw were stunningly beautiful human beings. And I wondered, when did this change? When did girls / women go from feeling awesome to less than? I begin each painting with an interview and ask my model to start describing how she saw herself. The catch? She wasn’t allowed to mention her size or body. The first painting in this series was entitled “Size: Laughter” and was inspired by one of my dear friend’s amazing smile and laughter, which lit up every room she entered. I really wanted her to know this about herself. 

My ultimate goal with my artwork is to redefine what “beautiful” means for women."

Angela can be found at the following websites, I personally recommend giving her blog a read I really enjoy it.

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