Betsy

“This is a long ago portrait of a girl I used to work with in Long Island, N.Y. People used to call her Betsy but I don’t think that was her real name.” An interesting comment from Joy but nothing much to follow it up and end the intrigue. Joy has done a good job with all those beautifully molded natural features and has confirmed a dashing quiet quality, perhaps mysterious, with the lilting wisps of hair. One thing is for sure, despite the lack of information, this is a permanent image of her existence that is not likely to be burned, broken, or “tossed into the bin”.  Its a frightful thought but I have heard some artists wondering as they approach the end of their painting career and wonder how their work could be saved or archived.  There is no easy answer. Archival space is limited and expensive to maintain. All these images are being stored in a virtual space and will be useful historically to any researcher, but viewing them here is never as powerful as seeing the images in person. That is a realization that we have to make in understanding virtual reality.