“I feel like a warm red Autumn” Marilyn once said, so I thought I’d paint her warmth in red. I feel this bright, fiery, pop-arty colour suits her well.

 

Marilyn was well read and intelligent, so I wanted to make paintings that I felt were more true to her character as a human being than as a Hollywood creation.

 

She was all too well aware of the Hollywood world that could be manufactured and how it could influence wellbeing. She said, “Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.”

 

“Success makes so many people hate you. I wish it wasn't that way. It would be wonderful to enjoy success without seeing envy in the eyes of those around you.”

 

And, given her eventual fate, she ironically stated, “Sometimes I think it would be easier to avoid old age, to die young, but then you'd never complete your life, would you? You'd never wholly know you.”