Dancing in the Wind

The latest in the floral portrait series.  As the sunlight streaked across the foothills of the Appalachians and the breeze intensified, the swamp sunflowers in our South Carolina garden seemed to leap up and glow with delight as they swayed to the rhythms of the setting sun and the oncoming night.

A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose

Every now and then I like to explore new subjects.  This is part of a new series of floral portraits rendered in charcoal.  I especially enjoy the challenge of trying to convey color in black and white.  Black and white reveals what color conceals!

Of Shoes and Ships and Ceiling Wax

2009 has certainly gotten off to an auspicious start!  I just received the Edith Moore Portrait Award at GFAA's Winter Members' Show on 25 January for this charcoal piece.  On display at Trinity United Methodist Church in Gainesville through 24 March 2009.

While I intended to do only a study of the subject's face, I decided it was progressing well enough to develop further.  One thing led to another, and before long I was borrowing books from his library and using them to establish a background. In addition to providing compositional interest, they also provide additional clues about the subject.  Did you happen to notice the copy of "The Yage Letters" tucked in amongst those scholarly tomes?   

Growing Pains

I am delighted to share news that this charcoal portrait was not only accepted into GFAA's first annual Juried Florida Artists Exhibition but also received Best in Show/First Place.  

The subject, my nephew Zachary, had just turned 16, and I strived to capture something of the "angst" we so often associate with teens who are struggling to deal with seemingly impossible questions and feelings.  On a deeper and more personal level, this portrait pays tribute to a very brave young man who has battled Crohn's Disease since the age of 11.    

Things Aren't Always What They Seem

This piece was also accepted into GFAA's first annual Juried Florida Artists Exhibition, on display in the President's Hall Gallery at Santa Fe College in Gainesville through 5 March 2009. 

A lovely young friend had invited me to share her special time while she prepared for the senior prom.  As her normally straight hair was released from the confines of curlers and fell about her shoulders, I was fascinated with the way the graceful draping of her formal dress both complemented and differed from the freshly coiffed curls.  An unusual look for a portrait, but one I could not resist!  The challenge of modulating values in charcoal to render hair, skin and drapery successfully was simply something I had to try.  As the piece evolved, I decided to introduce the suggestion of a tattoo (something this very proper young woman would most certainly never have had!), taking the piece in a different direction, raising questions and challenging assumptions.  Why is her face hidden from view?  Where is she?  What or whom is she looking at?  Who is she?  How old is she?  Why does she have a seemingly incongruous tattoo?  Or, does it really suit her perfectly?  Is she really a she?  Unless she turns around, we can only speculate -- and decide for ourselves!