A portrait should sum up the personality of the subject.

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When I came upon Mr. Souders sitting in the remaining afternoon sun, with a dog adopted only 4 hours earlier from a local animal shelter, I grabbed my camera.  The lighting was amazing and the scene iconic.  The title Who Rescued Whom? Was in my head as I clicked away.

 The challenge was to create a portrait from 20 year old snapshots. Normally, I would shake my head with a big "SORRY and NO THANK YOU,"  but the story behind the project compelled me to give it a try.  My client had recently found her biological mother after a long search. Unfortunately, Mom passed away a few months prior. The reference photos came from an aunt who filled in some of the blanks. "Coppertone tan," rainbow striped chairs, bleached hair and delightfully curled toes suggest levity, while the heavily shadowed face and empty beach chair leave one to wonder, who is this woman and who belongs in the other chair? 

A monochromatic palette shifts focus from color to the relationship of shapes and their values.

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Like a firefly in a bottle, a successful portrait captures the moment. This is Alice as she prepares to board her flight to California and the beginning of her adult life.

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This portrait was a Christmas present for a person who prides herself in crafting the best snowman every year. Because the portrait was commissioned in the summer, there was ample time to work out the composition. The client had a very clear idea in mind, featuring the snowman as the main character, but also including their three dogs, one sadly deceased.  Due to the clandestine nature of the project, I relied on client photos and suggestions throughout. Goofy hat and nubbly scarf were quietly stolen for me to use as props. Branches from the tree used for the arms were provided. Many angles of the yard were put together so I could at least suggest the real thing. This was a bit daunting, but in the end we managed the perfect Christmas present and I'm very proud of the results!

Looking through reference material, I came across a series of photos taken in Cape May, New Jersey and immediately saw a figurative example of the "scale of justice." The scale is associated with the god Anubis, a guardian protector of the dead, who by weighing the heart, determines a soul worthy of Heaven or Hell.

In this image, two helmet-shaped, Horseshoe Crabs, living fossils estimated to be 450 million years old, are held at arm's length by a woman in dark sunglasses. Her expression is difficult to read. Is she amused?  The white dress reminds us that our fate is yet to be determined. The off balance composition is intended to create tension.  What will she decide?  

A pet portrait should never be boring!

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Sometimes you need to be literal.

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The patterns and rhythms of real life are the foundation of abstraction. 

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After seventeen years of creating portraits professionally, I have learned that it helps to have a strong connection to the subject. I might even say this is critical to ensure an exceptional result. When my emotion wicks into the surface as I work. my interpretation of personality evolves in a quirky, often humorous way. 

Two dogs and a cat occupy their favorite perch, the weary back of a leather couch which sits under a row of windows overlooking the driveway. This is a typical day.  A grainy, monochromatic foreground portrays that in-between state animals hold while they wait quietly inside. The full color seen through the window, is where life continues at a normal speed and for at least the dogs, all activity begins.  The dogs wait patiently like bookends, while the cat has a bead on a bird in the tree. 

The painting was a joy and a challenge to create.  It is 100% colored pencil. Solvents were used in places to bleed colors together, then many, many layers of grays, using the “scrumbling” technique, which simply put, is a light even swirling motion with a sharp point to slowly build values. 

Three young women take a "selfie," while the serious photographer uses her professional camera to shoot something we can only surmise, based on stance and power coat, to be outstanding. None of the subjects of this composition are interested in their immediate surroundings. The patterns and suggestions of cables and guard rail place the figures in a ghostly urban setting of just about anywhere. 

Multi layered perspectives, focal points and contrasting technology are explored in this piece. The viewer's attention is purposely  dragged from rich color, to soft mid tones; from saturated to diffused, just as a camera lens comes in and out of focus while the photographer decides where to land her shot. 

 Pigeons roost in the Trinity Episcopal Church Cemetery, Manhattan, NYC- resting place of John James Audubon.

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Somewhere between wild and pet, cats are cats.

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 Beautiful and ancient, what do birds see when they look down at us?

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 Preston discovered that following his mate into the river was a mistake- that water was not to be trusted!