Red Brolly

Makeup Day 11: Inspired by a passion for surrealist art, I particularly enjoy finding unusual features in the landscape which I can incorporate into my photography, particularly when creating a self-portrait such as this. However, today I had a more impressionistic concept in mind for the Red Brolly when I left home, but hunting season left me cut off from the world of Seurat and the quaint little bridge I had intended to use as a stage. Gone were all thoughts of soft-focused autumn colors to set off my centerpiece when I found the placid countryside taken over by orange-garbed, armed males, some shorter and possibly younger than the rifles slung over their shoulders. Thus I turned to a different area, one where innocent animals were not likely to go: a rocky bar at the east end of Riffe Lake.

It must be pointed out that for this shoot, I was perforce in costume, i.e., makeup, wig, a white dress and fashion raincoat, low heels and a newly-purchased, cheap French beret. The rain politely held off until I was done, but that did not prevent spatters of mud from dappling my dress and caking on my shoes, and although I did not break a heel, the end caps disappeared somewhere amid the rocks. The Red Brolly held up as well as could be expected in the wind, but somehow, somewhere, the beret took wing and left no clue to its whereabouts. In later (unused) shots), it is gone from my head, its departure entirely unnoticed until I packed up my gear to leave.

It is my belief that sometimes sacrifices must be made for Art. Today, the beret and my feet were among the vicitms. Heels and rocks do not go well together, nor wind and hats. Perhaps next time, I'll go for limp watches and the Persistence of Memory.