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Arreglandose (Getting Ready)
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by J Michael Walker, 1995
Color pencil on paper, 30" high x 40" wide
Private collection
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This drawing, from my series on "The Daily Life of the Virgin of Guadalupe," was inspired in part by the work of the French master Jean-Francois Millet, whose empathic images of rural peasants and of women in particular resonate with my expereinces in la Sierra Tarahumara.
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Millet's conte drawing "Morning Toilette", and its humbled lineage from Vermeer's "Woman with a Pearl Necklace," encouraged me to imagine Guadalupe putting the finishing touches to her morning dressing routine in a home much like that of my mother-in-law, Doña Adelina.
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Details include a tin of Vick's VapoRub on the windowsill; an aloe vera plant beside it; and a plastic chopping bag hanging from a typical "porta-retratos" mirror, with family photos all around.
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