Painting: Self-Portrait With Hat

"Self-Portrait with Hat," original oil painting by Sarah Griffin Thibodeaux,  16" x 20", oil on linen, 2011, collection of the artist

I was thrilled to be invited to participate in the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts' third self-portrait show, held every seven (or so) years.

When I sat down to paint my portrait, I tried a few different vantage points and efforts. In fact, three failed paintings stand before this one, the keeper. After a few rough attempts, I decided to paint a companion to the portrait of my husband Troy, in his favorite hat, that I painted in 2009.

"Portrait of Troy," original oil painting by Sarah Griffin Thibodeaux, 16" x 20", oil on linen, 2009 

I have painted Troy many times, starting when we met in graduate school in 1996. This one, painted in a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon in 2009, is the keeper.  He could be reading, or writing code, as he often did, on those Saturday afternoons, in Washington, D.C.  It's worth noting that my morning's painting was a wash. So I came home from painting group to paint this one fresh, after hours of looking and correcting, but having nothing to take home.

In any case, I wanted my portrait to look at his, across the room.

Here we are together:

A few sessions in to painting my self-portrait, I lost the hat.  I knew I was done.

This painting debuts at the opening of the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts' 3rd Self-Portrait Invitational Exhibit 2012.