Featured Paintings for April 2008
(Portraits)
Portraits are difficult to do and unappealing to most buyers of art; but I love doing them. I am fascinated by faces. What I strive for in my portraits is to capture the essence, not the likeness, of the person.
Lady Rushout
Oil on Canvas, 24" x 20"
I was commissioned to do this portrait of Lady Rushout (also known as Rebecca and Lady Northwick, 1740-1818) which I based on an internet image of a painting by British artist Angelika Kaufmann. She and her husband, the 1st Baron Northwick, owned and lived in the manor in the background, Northwick Park, which is located in the beautiful Cotswolds (England).
Carmen
Oil on Canvas, 20" x 16"
This is a portrait of Carmen Eliam, a friend from Ivory Coast. I painted this while "resting" from Lady Rushout's portrait. Carmen is a vibrant, colorful, person. What I may have captured in this painting is not her usual dazzling personality but, perhaps, a peek into a seldom-seen vulnerability.
Night Out
Oil on Canvas, 24" x 18"
Several years ago, someone took a photo of me in a restaurant in Burano Island (Italy), pretending to smoke using a thin Italian breadstick. I decided to use the pose and paint myself smoking using a cigarette holder. What a laugh; I've tried but never learned how to smoke!