Lily S. May–Life with Art
When I began looking into self publishing a retrospective book of my prints, I saw that it might not be simple to do. Indeed, that's the case. After stalling because of extremely high prices for scanning the works, I've adjusted my plans and will do something more modest--like creating a section of my site devoted… Continue reading Paintings I’d Forgotten About
Among the prints I've been sorting through these past weeks was this acrylic painting I made in 1991. As I look at it, I see several images coming together--something like a skull, the moon and even a toreador. I didn't plan the image ahead of time. This was one of many images I painted as… Continue reading Moon Skull Portrait
The war in Ukraine has got me thinking about my maternal grandparents. I know my grandmother's story more than my grandfather's, perhaps because he died when I was very young. She, Esther, was born in Odessa in the late 1800s when it was part of Russia. She and her family fled their home because as… Continue reading My Grandmother
Years ago in 1991, someone I knew told me an arresting dream they'd had. I don't totally remember it, but it was about terrible suffering and catastrophe. Most of the people in the dream were in trance like states with one or two raising the alarm. The dream impressed me as apocalyptic and I made… Continue reading Dystopia and a Key
Here's the last painting in the series of self-portraits I did at year's end, 1991. This one also refers to the surgery I had as a teenager and to feelings of mortality.
This is the second acrylic self-portrait in the series of three that I painted in 1991. It refers to surgery I had as a teenager. Painting helped me express some of the trauma of that experience and the life-long process of healing.
Earlier this week, I found myself thinking about a series of acrylic paintings on paper I made in 1991. They are out of sight in a portfolio that I must get out and pay some kind attention to. This painting is from a self-portrait I did while standing in front of a long mirror. The… Continue reading Acrylic Self-Portrait
Arts of May 