mother-the making

This sketch is part of a series of paintings I'm making that are loosely inspired by African- American poetry and poets. This piece is called mother, inspired by the poem of the same name, by Gwendolyn Brooks. The poem is about a woman's internal dialogue about the abortions she had and if she made the right decisions. The first thing I thought when I read and absorbed this poem was a gourd or vase. Nothing that is used everyday to me mimics a woman's physique and attributes to me like it. I basically built everything around that image in my head.