Over the holiday I went with my family to see the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition at the National Portrait Gallery. The winning piece by Dave Woody is a photograph with the most beautiful light and color, but my favorite piece is a painting by Margaret Bowland called Portrait of Kenyetta. There is a youtube video of some of the award winners on the competition site and Margaret talks about how the painting came about. She talks about the different influences like the model putting on the wedding dress, thoughts about the Murakami show she had just seen and thoughts about our wedding rituals. I liked the part where she said that it is upsetting that women continue to participate in telling young women they aren't lovable enough as they are and that they have to make themselves more saleable by dressing up and purifying themselves. (photo of Margaret Bowland's painting from the portrait competition site)