How does a 850 year old skeleton relate to Dancing Backwards? It is posited that this woman/skeleton was a scribe/artist and somehow while working on a manuscript, a small chunk of lapis lazuli pigment was accidentally embedded in the flesh of her lower jaw behind her front teeth. According to the Smithsonian Institute, scientists like to poke … [Read more...] about Dancing Backwards Returns; Going Medieval with Skeletons: More Stories of Mostly Forgotten Fabulously Talented Women Artists of the Past: Part 3 Coming in September
Historical Pigments
More Lessons from Fred and Ginger Part ll with Sophie Fremiet Rude
Looking back over the months of research for both Dancing Backwards in High Heels Parts One and Two, a distinct vocabulary ideology repeatedly pops up. Words and phrases like artistic family, parental encouragement, financial hardship, financial independence, prevail, obstacles, and perseverance among others. There is a common thread running … [Read more...] about More Lessons from Fred and Ginger Part ll with Sophie Fremiet Rude
Dancing Backwards Part ll with the Iconic Artemisia Gentileschi
Baroque artist, Artemisia Gentileschi, born in Rome in 1593, was graced with the good fortune of having a famous painter as her father, Orazio Gentileschi. She received her training from one of the best early in her life and made a name for herself by the age of 15. Her popularity and fame took her from Rome to Florence, Venice, Naples, and then … [Read more...] about Dancing Backwards Part ll with the Iconic Artemisia Gentileschi
Dancing Backwards in High Heels Part ll, More Lessons with Fred and Ginger and Judith Leyster in Haarlem
It's an endless saga, just a different woman in another country. It’s a wonder this artist made a name for herself having to combat such serious obstacles. Judith Leyster is yet another woman artist surrounded by setbacks and intrigue which involved fraudulent actions against her work, deliberate deception and misattribution of her work, and work … [Read more...] about Dancing Backwards in High Heels Part ll, More Lessons with Fred and Ginger and Judith Leyster in Haarlem
Dancing Backwards with Elisabeth Vigee LeBrun: Painter to the Stars and Royalty
Elisabeth Vigee LeBrun lead a life of political intrigue and privilege. She met and mingled closely with royalty achieving the status of court painter to Marie Antoinette. Throughout her career, she would paint more than thirty paintings of the last queen of France and her family. The French Revolution interrupted her stellar reputation and career … [Read more...] about Dancing Backwards with Elisabeth Vigee LeBrun: Painter to the Stars and Royalty
Dancing Backwards in High Heels Part Two in Portugal with Josefa de Obidos
Born in Spain, this 17th century artist, Josefa de Obidos, was one of the most successful and revered women in the field of art during her lifetime of 1630-1684. She was proficient in many mediums but mostly famous for her still life and religious themed oil paintings. Like several of the women I have researched for this project, Obidos never … [Read more...] about Dancing Backwards in High Heels Part Two in Portugal with Josefa de Obidos