Fresh Start February 💖 Practicing Neutrality to Build Resilience
- Sophie Margot
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
I’m practicing neutrality to build resilience this year. No judgements, only curiosity. My 2026 started with contracting COVID for the first time. In the past, this could have easily led me on a downward spiral that my year is ruined, or it’s a sign that I should give up, or whatever lie my depression brain wants to tell me! Instead, it’s just something that happened. I got sick, and I got better, and it is what it is.
No big deal.
Am I still bummed that I wasted two of my weeks off coughing with a fever? Of course, I had plans. I wanted to hang out with friends and go for walks, and work out. But if I’ve learned anything in my 36 years, it’s that we become resilient to crappy situations when we understand how to move forward and let go of the past. It isn't easy by any means. I've struggled with letting go of disappointment, and I tend to ruminate on things I can't change.
I let myself feel my feelings, and then ask myself, "Ok, so what's next?"
I want to invite you to let go of any crap that January gave you! Flush it down the toilet!! Wipe, and we can move on ⭐️
Art History Corner 🖼️
Alice Neel, American, 1900 - 1984
Like many women throughout art history, Alice Neel was severely underrated during her lifetime. She had a unique style of her own - partially influenced by European Expressionism. She never followed trends and instead followed her artistic instincts to create dynamic and haunting portraits.
She graduated from the Philadelphia School of Design for Women (Now Moore College) in 1925. She briefly worked for the WPA while it was in operation and created paintings throughout her entire life. She passed away in 1985 after receiving chemotherapy for colon cancer.
Her portraits remind me of Egon Schiele. They are muted, yet colorful. The lack of straight lines creates an inherent sense of movement - like the figures could begin to talk at any moment. She outlines the figures, distinguishing them from their environment, emphasizing their importance. By leaving the backgrounds seemingly unfinished, she highlights the figures even more. Most of the detail is assigned to the faces, the eyes, which give them their lifelike quality.
Much like her modern predecessors, Neel painted ordinary people. People who were underground or deemed "lower class." This was a new concept for modern art because traditionally, only royalty would have portraits commissioned. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was famous for this, after painting ballerinas and other performers that, by society standards in the 1800s, weren't worthy of being painted.
Neel captured the spirits of the people who sat for her paintings. I believe she deserves to be a household art history name, just as much as any other modern painter you can think of!
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