The Inspirational Frida Khalo Print

Frida Khalo enjoyed art from an early age and in 1925, she began to paint outside of school to help her family who were quite poor. After briefly working as a stenographer, she became a paid engraving apprentice for her art instructor printmaker Fernández. He was impressed by her talent, although she did not consider art as a career at this time. A severe bus accident at the age of 18 left Frida in lifelong pain. Confined to bed for three months following the accident, she began to paint. She started to consider a career as a medical illustrator, as well, which would combine her interests in science and art. Her mother provided her with a specially-made easel, which enabled her to paint in bed, and her father lent her some of his oil paints. She had a mirror placed above the easel, so that she could see herself and she painted many self portraits in that time as well as documenting her experience of chronic pain. Painting became a way for Frida to explore questions of identity and existence. She explained, "I paint myself because I am often alone and I am the subject I know best." She later stated that the accident and the isolating recovery period made her desire "to begin again, painting things just as [she] saw them with [her] own eyes and nothing more." - source Wikipedia …..Frida is an inspirational woman, not just on International Womens Day but every day…..she was overshadowed for many years by her very famous husband, artist Diego Rivera, and even now is not as well known in her own right as she should be…..