"I wouldn't like to call my work beautiful. It's sometimes disturbing and something deeper than beautiful." — Julia Thecla, 
Julia Thecla, Illinois State Museum, 1986, p.1, quoted by Hugh Cameron in an interview.

The fantasy world in Thecla's paintings sometimes spilled over into her real life. Once she showed up at an art exhibit opening dressed like a bird from one of her paintings, covered with feathers. Gallery owner Katherine Kuh visited Thecla at home and saw a small pet chicken pop out of a drawer where Thecla kept it when visitors were in the house.

What characteristics of her unique self-image did Julia Thecla include in this portrait with its costume and its setting?