A girl with an owl (pencil sketch) / Djevojka sa sovom (skica olovkom)

 The story of sketch is (kind of) interesting. I'm saying kind of because it may not be of any interest to you, but I'm going to tell the story it anyway. Originally I just drew the owl (for practice and for fun because I love owls), but somehow the drawing looked empty. I fixed that by adding in a woman. I remember watching a documentary on Croatian TV that said that in middle ages, women were the best when it came to hunting with falcons. So, maybe they kept owls, too? It is just a quick drawing really, but I like it. I might make a painting out of it someday. Which makes me think of something....Margaret Atwood. I know I mentioned Margaret Atwood and her novel Cat’s Eye about hundred times on this blog, but I will do it again (and if you really know me it won’t surprise you). The protagonist of this novel is Elaine, a painter who paints women. When one young female journalist assumes (during an interview) that she paints women because she is feminist, Elaine gets defensive.  Why you might ask? Elaine maintains that it has nothing to do with feminist, that painters have always painted women. Indeed, they have. That made me think a lot. This novel has probably, at least on some level, inspired that one very long article about the representation of women that I wrote a while back (here). 

Priča o ovoj skici je donekle zanimljiva. Kažem donekle jer možda vama i neće biti tako zanimljiva, ali ja ću je svejedno ispričati. Zapravo sam u početku nacrtala samo sovu (i za vježbu i za zabavu jer volim sove), ali nekako mi je crtež izgledao prazno. To sam popravila tako da sam dodala ženu. Sjećam se da sam gledala neki dokumentarac na HRT-u gdje su rekli kako su u srednjem vijeku žene bile nabolji sokolari. Možda su imale i sove kao ljubimce? Ovo je zapravo samo brzi crtež olovkom, ali sviđa mi se. Možda jednoga dana od njega napravim i sliku. Što me podsjeća na....Margaret Atwood. Znam da sam spomenula Margaret Atwood prije i njen roman Mačje oko stotinu pita na ovom blogu, ali spomenuti ću ga opet ( i ako me stvarno znate, to vas neće iznenaditi). Protagonist ovoga romana je Elaine, slikarica koja slika žene. Kada  mlada novinarka tijekom razgovora napravi tu pretpostavku da Elaine slika žene jer je feministica, to u njoj probudi obrambeni stav. Zašto mogli biste pitati? Elaine kaže da to nema nikakve veze s feminizmom, da su slikari uvijek slikali žene. Doista, jesu. To me je navelo na razmišljanje. Ovaj roman je barem na nekoj razini  nadahnuo onaj jako dugi članak o prikazivanju žena koji sam napisala prije nekoga vremena (here).

I was browsing through some 16^th century art when something struck me….and that was with how much love and tenderness all of the women were depicted. I made me wonder of modern selfies and how we women represent ourselves today. I don’t mean that there is anything wrong with making selfies, you know. It is just that often we turn ourselves into less than we are. We just follow trends and we don’t think, we don’t truly express ourselves- and we forget to be our own creators. Those women that those old masters depicted- they look so full of life. They don’t look like objects to me. So, I don’t think it is a problem that most nudes that exist are nudes of women. It is true that many female artists don't get the recognition they should but generally speaking art not being valued as such is an issue that is even more serious. So, I don't really see a problem in a high number of female nudes in an art museum. The modern feminist will say that it means that women are being objectified, but I don’t believe it. Perhaps the reason why most painters (regardless of their gender) paint women is because they are more inspired by women. Is it really a bad thing to be a source of inspiration? 

Gledala sam neke stare slike iz šestanestoga stoljeća kada sam nešto primijetila...a to je s koliko ljubavi i nježnosti sve ove žene prikazane. Počela sam razmišljati o modernim selfijima i tome kako mi žene danas prikazujemo sebe. Ne mislim da ima išta loše s pravljenjem selfija, znate. Radi se samo o tome da nekad sebe pretvaramo u manje od onoga što jesmo. Samo pratimo trendove i ne mislimo- i zaboravimo biti svoji stvoritelji. Te žene koje su stari majstori slikali izgledale su tako pune života. Meni one ne izgledaju kao objekti. Tako da ne mislim da je problem što je većina aktova ženska. Istina je da postoje i da su postojale brojne ženske umjetnice koje nisu dovoljno priznate, ali generalno govoreći, veći je problem što ljudi uopće ne cijene umjetnost. Tako da mislim da su žalbe na račun visokoga broja ženskih aktova u muzejima bespredmetne (kao npr. ovdje here). Moderne feministice će vam reći da su žene tu pretvorene u objekte, ali ja to ne vjerujem. Možda je razlog zašto većina slikara i slikarica slika žene  taj što ih više nadahnjuju žene. Zar je loša stvar biti nadahnuće?

The reason why Elaine got upset when the journalist mentioned feminism in connection with her art is simply that art is so much more than some social movement- as important as that social movement might have been. Furthermore, that art is hers. She made it. It is timeless. It is beyond politics. It is more powerful, rawer and more important than most activism. For Art is activism in its pure form. Activism freed from ideology and identity. Beauty for the sake of beauty, as Oscar Wilde so wisely said. So, when I look at those old paintings, I don’t see a problem of any sort. The problem is not that most painters paint women, the problem is that some portrayals of women (and many are to be found in ads and media) are demeaning to women. Moreover, if we’re going to be honest- a lot of women are turning themselves into objects. A lot of women are insecure, they feel like they are only worthy if they achieve some ideal of physical beauty. That is what some feminists don't get. Art is not an ad, it is not out there to trick us into thinking we need something to be happy, art is food for our soul. it is never about a celebration of some body ideal. It is always about more, or it is not really art.

Razlog zašto se Elaine uzrujala kada je novinarka spomenula feminizam u vezi s njezinom umjetnošću je jednostavan taj što je umjetnost puno više od socijalnoga pokreta- koliko god važan bio taj socijalni pokret. Uz to, ta umjetnost je njena i ona ju je stvorila. Bezvremenska je, pa je prema tomu iznad politike. Snažnija je, sirovija pa čak i važnija od većine aktivizma. Jer umjetnost je aktivizam u čistom obliku. Aktivizam oslobođen ideologije i identiteta. Ljepota zbog ljepote, kao što je Oscar Wilde tako mudro rekao. Tako da kada ja gledam te stare slike, ne vidim nikakav problem. Problem nije što većina slikara slika žene, problem je što su neki prikazi žena ( a takvim je puno u medijima i oglašavanju danas) ponižavajući prema ženama). Ako ćemo iskreno, puno žena same sebe pretvaraju u objekte. Puno žena je nesigurno, osjećaju da su su vrijedne samo ako ostvare neki ideal fizičke ljepote. To je ono što neke feministice ne shvaćaju. Umjetnost nije oglas, nije njena svrha da nas natjera da mislimo da trebamo nešto da bi bili sretni, umjetnost je hrana da dušu. Nije nikad slavljenje nekoga tjelesnoga ideala. Uvijek se tu radi o više toga, ili to nije umjetnost.

Painters, real painters, show women they are already beautiful for what they are- not for their bodies but for their soul. That is why women inspire painters. Elaine is right. It really doesn’t have anything with being a feminist. It is just the way it is. I’m a woman and most of the time I paint women. If I was a man and painted women, it wouldn’t mean that I’m objectify them (unless my painting were really bad, but I’m talking about artists here so…). It is what painters do, even hobby painters.  You know, I’m really not an expert on visual arts. My true medium are words. Always have been. That is why I love languages so much.I tend to fall in love with words because they are my tool, like paints are tool to an artist. I get lost in dictionaries, I read like my life depends on it. I understand fictional characters. I get literature. So, yes I get why painters paint women. Both as a hobby artist and someone who reads a lot. I get it. I guess I have Margaret Atwood to thank for it. At least partially. So, thanks. I plan to write even more about this subject (you have been warn). Long articles on the way.

Slikari, pravi slikari, prikazuju žene koje su već lijepe- i lijepe zbog onoga što jesu, ne zbog svojih tijela, već zbog svoje duše. Zato žene nadahnjuju slikare. Elaine je u pravu. To nema nikakve veze s feminizmom. To je jednostavno tako. Ja sam žena i većinu vremena slikam žene. Da sam muškarac i da slikam žene, to ne bi značilo da ih pretvaram u objekte (osim ako moje slike ne bi bile doista loše, ali ovdje govorim o umjetnicima tako da...). Slikari slikaju žene. Čak i slikari amateri. Znate, baš i nisam stručnjak što se tiče vizualnih umjetnosti. Moj pravi medij su riječi i tako je uvijek bilo. Zato toliko volim jezike. Zaljubljujem se u riječi jer su one moj alat, kao što su boje alat umjetniku. Izgubim se u rječnicima, čitam kao da mi život ovisi o tome. Razumijem izmišljene likove. Shvaćam književnost. I shvaćam zašto slikari slikaju žene. I kao netko kome je slikanje hobi i kao netko tko puno čita. Shvaćam. Pretpostavljam da mogu i Margaret Atwood zahvaliti na tome, barem djelomično. Tako da hvala Margaret. Planiram još više pisati o ovim temama (smatrajte se upozorenim....dugi dugi članci stižu).