Self-portraiture to me has always been a way to capture the passage of time. I enjoy capturing the changes that aging creates. The physical changes of aging are not an easy thing to experience but it is a fascinating thing to observe. Seeing lines appear from certain repeated expressions, the loss of skin elasticity and effects of gravity. Jawlines and necks becoming slackened, and mouths more marked in their downward turn. Frown lines become permanently etched and eye bags grow more noticeable. A tired look begins to creep into appearance no matter how much sleep is achieved. This is a subtle and slow change, but it is relentless. Turning youth into middle age and then eventually to old age.

This self-portrait is moment for me to take stock of the stage I am in. An expression of the gradual slide into middle age and all that involves. The sand in the hourglass is more than half fallen, suggesting the unknown of how much time has been spent and what could be left. Getting older makes mortality grow larger in the mind.

The backdrop in this piece was created from an old curtain that was part of a set from my family home growing up. When the house was sold, I kept one of the curtains as it held so many memories for me. It has been used in two earlier pieces. One another self-portrait called ‘Memory’ and the Portrait of my daughter called ‘Peace Comes dropping Slow’.