I had the idea for this painting about 3 years back. I wanted to base it as closely (in a visual sense) as possible on Norman Rockwell's famous "Girl at the Mirror" painting. I was able to learn the dimensions of the Rockwell original, and I stretched my own canvas over stretchers of that same size.
Norman Rockwell - Girl at the Mirror (1954)
Various people find different meanings in the Rockwell original, but I think at its root, it is about the inevitable move away from the trappings of childhood (cf, 1 Corinthians 13:11) toward the beginnings of adulthood. It is about blossoming. But it is also about the doubts that can accompany such a metamorphosis.
In Rockwell's painting, the girl (depicted by his young model Mary Whalen Leonard) shows a good bit of skepticism in this regard, perhaps intimidated by the visage of movie actress Jane Russell staring up at her from a magazine page.
My idea was to show a young woman (older than Rockwell's girl) on the brink of transforming her body to the next level, probably in anticipation of competing in physique competitions. In place of the discarded doll of Rockwell's painting are the pink 2-pound dumbbells with which she started her bodybuilding journey. They have been displaced by a more massive dumbbell and the ubiquitous 1-gallon water jug of the serious bodybuilder.
In Rockwell's painting, the girl (depicted by his young model Mary Whalen Leonard) shows a good bit of skepticism in this regard, perhaps intimidated by the visage of movie actress Jane Russell staring up at her from a magazine page.
My idea was to show a young woman (older than Rockwell's girl) on the brink of transforming her body to the next level, probably in anticipation of competing in physique competitions. In place of the discarded doll of Rockwell's painting are the pink 2-pound dumbbells with which she started her bodybuilding journey. They have been displaced by a more massive dumbbell and the ubiquitous 1-gallon water jug of the serious bodybuilder.
Paul Erlandson - Fit Girl at the Mirror (2017)
Prints of this painting will be available very soon for purchase.
