This is one of my attempts to consciously break some of the rules I learned in art classes. I wanted to try putting a figure in a position that would be both compositionally balanced yet give a sense of being unbalanced somehow. I came up with the idea of putting this girl (drawn from a magazine photo for a liquor story) in a balanced center position on the canvas. But she is bent over uncomfortably, the top of the picture frame exerting a psychic barrier to her resuming a normal upright posture. Although I like the final composition for what it ultimately became, I never felt the unbalanced side was brought out, as the composition appears much too tame compared to my original intentions. I did play with unbalanced compositions with more success in other paintings later on. The name "Keturah," according to my notes, means "incense." I guess I was hoping this girl would, as the dictionary puts it, "cause (a passion or emotion) to become aroused."
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