Rainbow Portraits by Emilyann and a Public Group Art Project
This post is for fellow art lovers and expressive friends out there in the world that appreciate the raw, real, and unusual. It’s also for anyone in or coming out of a slump, anyone looking to remake themselves a bit, anyone who loves rainbows or Kesha. Well, in reality it’s for anyone it speaks to. Haha.
On the Other Side of the Rainbow
Recently my life has involved some extra healing, growth, personal evolution. Perhaps you can relate now or have been there? But nobody is to blame for any of that, including myself. Life is what it is… it happens. We can’t drag the past around with us if we’re going to shine again as we go forward. Healing and growth has involved community, talking, music, exercise, reading, and more.
The whole point of this post is that it’s not about the past, it’s about now and where I’m headed. Finding more true moments of peace, happiness, and motivation again didn’t happen overnight. And I guarantee I’ll keep having ups and downs. But I’m excited about going forward. I want to encourage anyone out there hurting or going through the motions. Keep going through the motions. When we’re healing, or lost, as tough as it can be… sometimes we need to do our part by putting one foot in front of the other. Time will do the rest. Time brings us answers and peace. Even if we lose sight briefly of where we’re headed, if we keep moving forward and participating in life the best we can, time shows us what to do next. People kept telling me time would help, so I know how frustrating that is to hear. That involves a lot of patience. But time does help.
Lately, I feel like I can be me again and am excited to keep working on a better version of me. I feel like Kesha’s lyrics, “I forgot how to day dream” are accurate to what I went through for a season recently in life. But day dreaming is coming back to me. So, with all of that, I’m inspired again and creating again. I’m getting back to projects I couldn’t work on before and working on new projects.
Rainbow Portraits – a Public Group Art Project Invitation and Tribute to Kesha
With this post, I’m going to share a small little project. It’s bite size. It’s simple. But this is a start. It’s a big step in my next life chapter. This is a self-portrait project called Rainbow Portraits. I’ll share with you some of my inspirations first. Then I’ll share my portraits.
Rainbow Portrait Art Project Inspirations
This project is mainly inspired by Kesha, her album Rainbow, and especially her song, Rainbow (if you plan to look any of it up, or listen to the song below, please be aware it does have language). She says in the song, “put those colors on girl.” Well, Kesha, I took that quite literally and have enjoyed it. I created a self-portrait series of my photos that make me feel good or I feel express something meaningful to me and I added colors in Photoshop. Thank you for inspiring me, Kesha. This album by Kesha has been one of my favorites to listen to since it came out. It’s deep, beautiful, raw, fun, and empowering. Check out the song Rainbow and the lyrics below. I hope they inspire you too. After that, I have included my Rainbow Portraits.
Rainbow Music Video (Kesha)
Rainbow
I used to live in the darkness
Dress in black, act so heartless, but now
I see that colors are everything
Got kaleidoscopes in my hairdo
Got back the stars in my eyes, too, yeah now
I see the magic inside of me
Yeah, maybe my head’s *messed up
But I’m falling right back in love with being alive
Dreaming in light, light, lights
This kitty cat lost her mind
Been lookin’ for a star-sent sign that I’ll be alright
Look to the skies
I’ve found a rainbow, rainbow, baby
Trust me, I know, life is scary
But just put those colors on, girl
Come and play along with me tonight
I’d forgot how to daydream
So consumed with the wrong things, but in
The dark, I realized this life is short
And deep down, I’m still a child
Playful eyes, wide and wild, I can’t
Lose hope, what’s left of my heart’s still made of gold
And I know that I’m still *messed up
But aren’t we all, my love?
Darling, our scars make us who we are, are
So when the winds are howling strong
And you think you can’t go on, hold tight, sweetheart
You’ll find a rainbow, rainbow, baby
Trust me, I know life is scary
But just put those colors on, girl
Come and play along with me tonight
You gotta learn to let go, put the past behind you
Trust me, I know, the ghosts will try to find you
But just put those colors on, girl
Come and paint the world with me tonight
Night, night, night, night, night
I found a rainbow, rainbow, baby
Trust me, I know life is scary
But just put those colors on, girl
You gotta learn to let go, put the past behind you
Trust me, I know, the ghosts will try to find you
But just put those colors on, girl
Come and paint the world with me tonight
Oh, put those colors on, girl
Come and paint the world with me tonight
Come and paint the world with me tonight
Songwriters: Kesha Sebert
Rainbow lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
My Rainbow Portraits
There are many things that I’m inspired by and that I identify with right now, some of which are quotes, sunshine, Phoenix birds from mythology, rainbows, love and community, and amazing music. The focus of this project is rainbows and personal healing, but some of those other things are represented in this project as well.
Rainbow Portraits
Self-Portraits by Emilyann Allen
#RainbowPortraits
Phoenix Rising
Alive and Real
Sunshine and Laughter
Serious Business – Or is it?
Phoenix Alive and Limitless
Photo Credits: Emilyann Allen, Luminous Words Press and Laina Mari Productions
Photo Editing/Digital Art Adaptations: Emilyann Allen
Your Rainbow Portraits (a Public Group Art Project Invitation)
Have you heard of or participated in public group art projects before? Some of my favorite examples are PostSecret by Frank Warren and Learning to Love You More by Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher.
I’ve enjoyed this little project for myself. Maybe it speaks to you too. You’re invited to participate in Rainbow Portraits. “Painting” myself in colors has been healing and empowering for me. May sound odd to some, but that’s their problem, not mine. LOL. 😉 What is it doing for me? It’s a representation of a spectrum of going up and down. It represents coming out of a fog. It represents broken pieces coming back together again and finding empowerment again. It’s fun. It’s silly. It’s empowering. It’s real. The colors are beautiful and they represent all the exciting things I’m doing and going to do.
Whether you’re hurting and need to see in colors again or even if you’re on top of the world and the colors are a representation of your joy, feel free to paint yourself in colors too and share (or don’t). This can be as simple as using apps like Aviary or filters and effects like you do for Instagram (feel free to message me photography or art portraits, use the hashtag #RainbowPortraits and tag me on Instagram and other social media like Facebook, etc). Depending on response levels, I may create a web page dedicated to our Rainbow Portraits. And (or) if it works with my publishing schedule, I may share the portraits other ways. Who knows, maybe it could become a book.
The colors and portraits can be part of you going through the motions, part of healing, part of hurt, part of joy. They’re your Rainbow Portraits to mean what they mean to you. Mine have been part of me finding my happy, goofy, creative, empowered, sexy self again. We all need that.
This project represents a new chapter, so thank you everyone and everything that helped me get here. Thank you rainbows, thank you Kesha, thank you family, friends, and colleagues, thank you my kitties, thank you mythology for the Phoenix, thank you sunshine, and thank you to things that are bigger than us for life, dreams, and opportunities.
Have a great day friends and I hope you see some beautiful rainbows.