My painting of Cortana, the Artificial Intelligence character from the HALO video game franchise, was included in the “Nerds in the City” 1st Thursdays event at the Orlando Museum of Art last week.  This painting is important to me on a few levels.

First, my husband and I love playing HALO in campaign mode.  Recently, we started playing them all over again from the beginning because they were rereleased in 4K.  The graphics are incredible, but this time through I paid closer attention to the story and the relationships of the characters.  The main “hero” of the series is Master Chief, but he is nothing without his AI, Cortana.  They are a team – the brains and the brawn, the beauty and the beast.  Of course, video game culture requires the most prominent female characters to be depicted in a very sexually alluring way and that includes Cortana, even though she is not an actual human character.

I decided to pay tribute to the powerful role Cortana plays in this series by depicting her as a “digital” fertility goddess.  Yes, she is sensual and voluptuous, but her role is not as sexual eye candy for the male player.  She is the giver of life, the one who provides knowledge and the one who leads the way for the male character, Master Chief.

Second, I felt compelled to paint an image from the HALO franchise because ten years ago this fall I submitted artwork to my very first art show.  In 2008, I submitted a painting inspired by HALO 3 to a video game art show and the rest is history.  It was the first time I ever put myself out there – as an artist – for the public to see.  The piece I submitted to that show was terrible, but I have tried to learn and to challenge and to push myself creatively and technically over the last ten years.  While I am pleased with how far I have come, I am not done learning or pushing myself to be better.  Stay tuned for more new stuff in the coming weeks.