The Laughing Self Portrait was always a bit of a mystery for me when I first came across it clearing out her studio after her death. I easily recognized it as a self portrait but couldn’t understand the expression on her face and actually thought it was done at an earlier time back in England, mostly due to the hairstyle being so long in the back. However, after reading through the diary and trying to understand the origins of the two Chantal paintings, I found her entry, “Did Laughing self portrait in 2 and 1/2 hours” and knew immediately that it referred to this self portrait.

Further reading of the diary clearly tells the story of her having all her paint mixed and ready to go on her palette but her model was a no show. I find it interesting that she chose this expression, a laughing smile at a time when she had every reason to be frustrated and annoyed. I guess we can thank Chantel for not showing up again the next day so that she could finish it. My mother always kept a moveable standing mirror in her studio, this was generally arranged so that the sitter could watch the progress of the painting in the mirror. To see how this worked look at the photograph that one subject made, it’s on the Biography page.

I have decided to include the whole Chantal painting saga so you can get begin to understand some of the difficulties my mother had in getting models.

Diary Entries