This was my first Marilyn Monroe painting.  I have a fascination with Marilyn Monroe because she was a very bittersweet character. She was a tragic character, so I try to understand her complicated life and background.  Despite some form of mental illness, she was a star and had tremendous accomplishments.  In this sense, she offers hope to the viewer. The face is like Marilyn, but the body is almost like a mannequin.  She’s drowning underwater in Hollywood. This describes my feeling of what her life may be been like. I have her swimming with the sharks because this is emblematic of her whole life, from a little child to an adult until her life ended. It was a short life. It was a tough life.  I like the all-American colors because she was a true American icon with the red stripes and the blue background

Oil on linen

H 24″ X W 20″