Jenny Doh: Peace. Love. Art.

Day Two with Katie Kendrick.
Faces: Though I've sketched and doodled many faces, this is actually the very first one that I've ever painted from start to finish. Some things I wanna remember about the process ...

1 It was really hard. I was uncomfortable. I felt awkward and many times, I really hated what I was painting. But I stayed with it ...

2 Mainly because I was hanging onto the words of M.C. Richards from The Crossing Point that Katie had read to us in the morning ... about how none of us are well-oiled, perfect machines. We are all riddled with imperfections. We are all very different. And you know the concepts of "peace and love" ... they don't come easy and they don't come all packaged neat and tidy.

They come when we allow the pain embedded in differences and conflicts and tragedy to penetrate us and affect us and change us and ultimately cause us to look courageously at all of it. That's when peace and love come.

3 At a certain point, sweet Jen Lake had me turn on Carla Bruni for the entire room to listen to, whose sensual and magical songs penetrated me ... filled me with deep sorrow, a longing, regret, and ultimately acceptance and peace and love as she sang ...

Quelqu’un m’a dit
They tell me that destiny mocks us
It gives us nothing and promises everything
It seems that happiness is within reach
So we reach out …and find madness
But someone told me ...

That you still love me
Someone told me that he is someone who loves me still.
Could that be possible?

But who is it who told me that you love me?
I do remember it was late at night
I still hear the voice, but I do not see the face
"He loves you, it is secret, do not tell him what I’ve said
You see, someone told me ...

That you still loved me, they truly said ...

4 The thing that bothers and intrigues me most are the eyes. I'm bothered that they feel bigger than I think they should be. They intrigue me because I want to paint another face where the eyes are even bigger, and other features more exaggerated and contorted. I want to do this.