"This series, Grateful to Reach This Day, arose from some self-portraits I painted.  As I stared closely at my face, so many thoughts about aging came up, the public and individual attitudes about it, the many subterfuges we use to avoid/postpone it, how gender effects all these issues, and, most importantly: how do I feel when I look in the mirror and see the changes in my face.  What emerged were not ‘pretty’ images of my face but vivid impressions that showed all signs of a life . . .’lived’, the ‘Me’ I have become over the years, and yet a  ‘Me’ I greet  with a Shehecheyanu, a Hebrew prayer of thanksgiving for being allowed to experience this day.

There is an underlying message in this series.  When we are young we are noticed, admired.  On the other hand, older people become invisible. I can't tell you when that happens. 45? 50?  Certainly by 55.  All of these subjects are well over that age, and my intent is to show that their faces are worth looking at, even taking a second and a third look.  In painting this series of portraits I ask that you pay attention to them.  Don't ignore them.  Be curious about them.  They are all accomplished, vital, creative individuals."

Jill Kneeter