April 25th is the anniversary of when the two lesbians in my Face2Face Non-binary Genderfluid Lesbians Series met. I had drawn two doodle sketches on newspaper and wrapping paper, in the style of Picasso, when it occured to me that I could clip the two separate artworks together to make a third, in which the two lesbians meet each other.
Now, a year on, I have shown them celebrating the anniversary of their first meeting and falling in love 'at first sight'. Although this art series is one year on, it depicts them celebrating their first meeting in a timeless way, without restricting it to a particular amount of years later after they met. The subtitle of this artwork is - 'Anniversary: Love at First Sight and Every Sight'.
The single rose on the table 🌹symbolises love at first sight, while the flowers in the bouquet in the vase symbolise: soulmate and true love (red tulips) and there are 24 of them to say 'I'm Yours'; dahlias which symbolise lasting bond and commitment; red camellias for passion, true love and deep desire.
Above the fireplace is a golden framed mirror which, although it reflects them across the room, actually depicts their first meeting so is a miniature of the artwork I released a year ago.
It is set in a room which has Georgian-inspired interior design. While planning out my drawing, I researched the Georgian period to deepen my knowledge of this era, especially LGBT+ history in and around this time, as well as what is distinctive about Georgian interior decor. I chose peach for the room colour because it is a colour favoured by Georgian design and is, I think, warmer than the other shades of that period, such as pea green. It's also a champagne-like shade which fits the celebratory mood. I added an orangy tone to it to allude to the lesbian flag and the gender expansiveness colour symbolism within it. The tea set is inspired by looking at various period Georgian tea sets. I noticed that their sets were less tall and upright than we use today, and did not yet include the typical tea stand.
This week, starting today, is Lesbian Visibility Week (with Lesbian Visibility Day on Tuesday). So I included an original portrait of the Ladies of Llangollen (Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby) who wore a red gemstone around their necks. So I reflected this by adding a red garnet stone in the modern lesbian couple's heart-shaped silver necklaces. Garnet stones symbolise love, the heart, sustaining bond, life force and sexual attraction. The grey/silver colour of their necklaces and shawls, as in previous artworks in this series, symbolises genderfluidity.
Georgian design is very symmetrical which is why there are two lamps on either side of the fireplace. While above the fireplace is a mirror which is a drawing of the two meeting for the first time and falling in love. They are reflected on the left page twice: one, the two celebrating the anniversary of their first meeting, two, above the couple and parallel to the mirror image are the two famous Georgian era lesbians, Ponsonby and Butler, in their top hats. Both that picture and the mirror are gold framed. Ponsonby and Butler are included in this artwork because they fit the era and show that lesbians have been around a long time, going right back to Sappho, and have led lives they wanted to irrespective of society's norms, expectations, prejudices and family bigotry. Anne Lister, inspired by these two, is a wonderful example of a lesbian being true to herself leading the life she wants to, an authentic life.
I started thinking out my composition by sketching my ideas into my street art sketchbook and experimenting with how to capture the intricacy of the ornate plasterwork. I started sketching in pencil, then added coloured pencil and created a gold leaf effect with my Posca street art pen. Although I originally thought it would only be a planning sketch, I found myself filling in details (the panelling, fireplace, chairs and coffee table, curtains, ornate plasterwork, portraits, bookcase, table tea set, flooring) and then it just took off! It ended up feeling very complete and I like the way the coloured pencils create soft hues and effects on the sketching paper. I think it gives it a romantic tonal quality which I don't think coloured pencil on cardboard would have captured as successfully for this artwork. I decided against marker pens for the modern lesbians because it would have been too strong a contrast with the rest of the sketch and thus might over-focus the eye on one part of the artwork rather than leading the viewer's eye all around the page.
At first, the composition was only the page on the right but then I expanded it to the page on the left and found I liked the perspective of the room between the two pages. The page on the left feels as though it is slightly more forward than the one on the right. So I decided to keep it in the sketchbook to retain the same perspective and because I thought it was apt: this drawing just took shape spontaneously, just as falling in love at first sight simply happens spontaneously.
