Las Amarillas Calandrias

I drew this self-portrait to give to my friend Daniel the last day I saw him, to remember me by, when I graduated from university. I had drawn myself releasing yellow birds from a cage and flying to him and singing along with his guitar-playing, as he sat inside the moon, above a desert night scene. I was purposely doing the picture of myself in the style of Frida Kahlo's magical realist self-portraits. I chose to draw myself releasing yellow birds on purpose because I knew Daniel likes the Harry Potter books; in the sixth book, Hermione conjures up yellow birds when she gets angry that Ron is hooking up with the other girl, and she has them torpedo his face. That was nearly six years ago. I now live in the Boston area. Recently the Museum of Fine Arts acquired its first ever original Frida Kahlo painting. It's extremely rare and unlikely that Boston MFA would get a Kahlo original, because the Mexican government guards the paintings it knows about jealously. They are not allowed to leave Mexico. The Kahlo original at the Boston MFA is the thirteenth known painting by Frida Kahlo that's outside of Mexico. The painting at Boston MFA is the first one that Frida Kahlo ever sold, about a month before she married Diego Rivera. She did a portrait of her indigenous maid, who took care of her right after the bus accident that finished her career as an aspiring physician, and instead set her on track to become one of the world's most iconic painters. It turns out the name of the maid who took care of Frida Kahlo was... Hermione.