Oil on canvas

96" x 54"

This painting, featuring a lesbian couple expecting their first child, was highlighted in my solo exhibit, Frauenhaus, at Catalyst Contemporary from Nov, 2019 - Feb 2020. The title, "Origin of the Family" subtly references the famous painting, "The Origin of the Universe" by Gustave Courbet.

The history of paintings of female nudes is hundreds of years long...and there are a few paintings of pregnant nudes out there, but no paintings of a lesbian pregnant nude with her lover — visually engaging the viewer with her direct gaze...at least I don't think so! I just had to paint this scene and it is my most recent large oil portrait. I finished this painting right on the gallery wall after installing it for the opening. Oil paint stays wet for quite a while and this original was so large (nearly life size) that it had to be rolled up to be installed so I couldn't put finishing marks on before rolling it up!

The upper right corner features a mini-replica painting of a Georgia O'Keefe morning glories. I like to add references to works of art by other artists to create that communication between the works and in this case, as a nod to a fellow woman painter.