Defeated Painting

"Defeated" 24" x 26" Oil on Wood 2017 The first painting in my "Defeated" series, "Defeated" Hello, I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself and this painting. I'm a self-taught artist who learned to paint so that I could become a better person. In comparison, before my obsessive studying of realism art, I didn't think too highly of myself. The mental illness, feeling overwhelmed, stuck, defeated, hopeless - the many unsatisfactory emotions - all started to subside after I found a way that actually improved my state of being. Painting allowed me to surround myself with beauty and forced to me grow. But I found myself allowing old habits to dictate how I felt daily. At the end of the day, after I fought the good fight, I'd find myself defeated. It was past anger or sadness, it was just exhaustion. I created "Defeated", a painting of a confined, naked, incomplete woman, with the intention of honesty. To be open with others, and myself. After painting her, I felt like a weight had lifted from my shoulders. I truly believe anyone can look at the painting and project their own feelings of anxiety, hopelessness, and the like onto it. Because it's on the wall you can see the feelings from a new perspective. Imagine looking at yourself from outside of a window when you're feeling your worst. What would you tell that person to do? How would you tell that person to act? How would you tell that person to stand up and start again? It's easy to have these answers when we see them in others. This is what this painting is for: To see those emotions from a new perspective and be able to make a positive change. Art is like that. Thank goodness it is! Thank you so much for taking the time to try to connect to this piece. It means the world to me. Serenity