This post does not have that much to do with a yellow bikini. But it is the one common pictorial element put to use in each of the three paintings. A beautiful yoga practitioner named Dilyana was the model whose poses inspired me to create the three paintings. She wore a yellow bikini and posed in Studio Romolo in Provincetown, MA, where I was invited to draw remotely over Zoom Video in 2020, during the Covid Lockdown. The Zoom images were not that clear on my MAC; I could see only simplified forms of the model without much detail. So I created drawings that are linear and schematic. From the drawings I developed ideas for three metaphorical paintings. As for the yellow bikini; it helped me to describe form through drawing as it wrapped around the body of the model, adding a sense of movement and a counter- direction to the compositions. The color yellow contributed its high vibrational energy that can help infuse a work of art with life even as an accent color.

**Teresa Baksa, *The Flow of Life*, oil/linen, 45”x54, 2021**

**Teresa Baksa, *The Flow of Life*, preliminary drawing, charcoal & pastel on paper, 42”x55”, 2021**

I created the first image of the Trilogy, The Flow of Life, during The Covid-19 Pandemic when I was spending much time walking isolated beaches thinking about the importance of breathing, and imagining the ocean as the giant lungs of the earth. The ocean seems to inhale and exhale with each wave, cleansing and rhythmic like our own pattern of breathing. Each breath we take is automatic and taken for granted, until we can take it no more. We also take the great ocean for granted as it breathes in and out. But perhaps the ocean takes us for granted; maybe we are like flotsam, randomly cast ashore by a wave on an exhale, existing only long enough to enjoy the beauty, and leave a mark of our experience. Our chance is brief before we are retrieved back to sea on an inhale. Marks left behind are like the unique lines etched in the sand from retreating waves, fleeting contours, linear shadows, and soon to be replaced on the next tide. Such is The Flow of Life.

**Teresa Baksa, *The Three Graces Adrift*, oil/linen, 2022**

**Teresa Baksa, *The Three Graces Adrift* , Preliminary drawing, 54”x45”, 2020**

The second image of the Trilogy, The Three Graces Adrift, was inspired by Dilyana posed sideways sitting in a rocking chair. The original sketch showed 3 partial images of her drawn in 3 slightly different overlapping views. I decided to eliminate the rocking chair, but I used the shape of the rocker as inspiration and I drew random wave-like bands across the figures. And instead of the hands and arms resting on the back of a chair I rested them on the figures as if they are holding on to each other. This made me think of the Greek Myth of The Three Charities: the personifications of beauty, charm, and grace, who were later called The Three Graces by the Romans, and whose images appear copiously throughout western art in sculpture and painting. They are usually depicted as dancing or flowing together somehow with hands and arms intertwined. Their purpose is to bestow upon humanity beauty, love, and art, and all else that is harmonious and beneficial to nature and society. They have inspired some of the highest art known. I show my Three Graces as a flotilla of numinous beauties, intertwined and cast adrift, in a silvery-blue sea, all alone in their search for a welcoming port.

**Teresa Baksa, *Sovereign Heart*, oil/linen, 60”x36”, 2024**

Teresa Baksa, *Arrival of the Muses*, Original sketch that became Sovereign Heart, 54”x45”, 2020

The third image of The Yellow Bikini Trilogy is Sovereign Heart. This image went through the most iterations of the three. Dilyana was posed sitting sideways on a chair. The sketch shows 3 figures seemingly moving in a clockwise direction with one partially-drawn figure on the far right, and another figure just starting to emerge in the center. As I worked on that center figure she started to emerge out and come forward from the 3 figures. I could see that I needed a longer canvas. The far right figure was removed and the composition changed from 55”x45” to 60”x36”. This enabled me to simplify the composition, change the figures from sitting to walking, and to make an issue of the central figure that was emerging out and forward from the rest. The emerging figure’s arms are shared with the 2 figures on either side of her. She is a part of them, as they march forward in life doing what their sensibilities tell them to do. But this rebel figure in the middle is the one who listens to her heart for its direct communication to her being. It is known that the heart feels sensations first while the brain takes its time to process and analyze stimuli and experiences. A Sovereign Heart rules from within by catching sensations before they are diluted by ingenious rationalization. A Sovereign Heart is never persuaded to be something less than it is.

Sovereign Heart is currently on exhibition and for sale until Oct, 6th, at The Mary Heaton Vorse House, Commercial St, Provincetown. For more information contact: ProvinctownArtsSociety.com

Sovereign Heart at The Mary Heaton Vorse House in Provincetown, MA., in the exhibition “Mary’s Choice”, which is up until Oct. 6th 2024.