Lady Blue

Behind the painting

The story of Lady Blue.

I painted Lady Blue in 2019, during a season when I was learning to open my heart again. Not from a place of need — but as a woman who had learned to stand firmly on her own.

She represents strength, confidence, and the courage to stay open after life gives you every reason to close off. She can protect herself. She can stand up for what is right. And she can still allow tenderness in. Her softness does not diminish her power. Instead, it proves she no longer has to choose between the two.

She began as a sketch from a dream I had. I saw a K in the middle of her neck and felt it was a sign that I was meant to meet Kevin and was going in the right direction. In the end, she became a reflection of the woman I was becoming: guarded enough to know her worth, yet brave enough to love again.

The original painting also let me explore matte black against gloss black. One surface absorbs the light; the other reflects it. As the viewer moves, the depth shifts. From that darkness, the luminous blue figure emerges — still, sculptural, and impossible to overlook.

I created her through the evolving language of my Lumière Inversée technique. Lady Blue begins in darkness and rises through light. She does not ask to be seen. She simply is.

Mixed media on canvas · 18 × 24 inches · 2019