Katy

40 x 50 cm, acrylic on canvas, 2006.

This portrait was a new challenge for me, in that it is the first full portrait I’ve done recently of a person whom I’ve never met in the flesh. Not knowing the subject makes it difficult for me to improvise too much, and I found myself worrying much more about likeness than I usually do. Nonetheless it was a joy to paint, as I had several lovely photos to work from, and the client was a dream (providing information and photos, and leaving me plenty of artistic freedom). It was a commission done for Jeremy, who gave it to his wife Katy as a Christmas gift.

Tags: acrylic, painting, portrait, thoughts

The artist speaks

Hi there. OK, this isn’t really a big deal, since I blog all the time on my other two blogs. But I think I’m going to start writing on this one, too. I’ve found (with my vegetarian blog, for example), that when I write about something, it helps my thinking on the subject. And my artwork is something I have been thinking a lot about recently.

Basically, my back story goes like this: for my entire life up until my junior year of college, I lived and breathed art. I loved making it. I loved taking classes in it. I loved exhibiting and selling my work. I did a lot of all of this. I even started college intending to major in art.

And then I just stopped. I can give you a lot of reasons why I think this happened, but that would take all day and probably bore you to tears, so I won’t.

With the exception of an occasional sketch here and there, I didn’t make a single piece of art for ten years. I always thought I would start again sometime soon. I hauled my box of art supplies from apartment to apartment, and kept it with me through at least four intercontinental moves. I’ll start painting again as soon as I have the time….

Well, now I have the time. About a year ago, I quit my job and decided to take a little time off. I was suddenly faced with more free time then I had ever had in my life. I had no more excuses, and slowly started painting again. At first it was terrifyingly intimidating, but I’m getting over that.

One of my goals for the coming year is to make a whole lot more art, and see where it can take me. I’m very excited about the possibilities.

Tags: thoughts