Self-Portrait 1993

Self-Portrait 1993 (Oil on board, 12.5 x 9 ins)

I found this hidden away in the studio a few days ago. If my intention was to produce some kind of Dorian Gray hold on time, it's not been significantly effective, I'm afraid. When I made this painting I had plans to do a series of self-portraits, but apart from a drawing (which I've published here previously), nothing came of it. I think perhaps everyone, including myself, found the apparently angry stare so frightening that it was put in a dark corner and forgotten about.

My good friend Maureen Stephenson, who is one quarter of our painting group Figure8, recently entered the Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Competition and her painting, Wysiwyg, was selected for the exhibition. Congratulations are definitely due. She suggested some time ago that I should also enter, but I couldn't fit a self-portrait into my schedule. Had I remembered this self-portrait existed I might well have entered it. Oh well, these things are sent to try us.