I worked on two portraits this spring and summer. One was of a family and the other was of a woman and her very close friend. The close friend commissioned it for the woman as a gift. The family portrait was commissioned by a husband for his wife. Both sound pretty standard for portrait work on the surface, but each had a story and emotional depth that was far from standard.
I don't want to tell the stories of the subjects because I respect the privacy of the people who ask me to paint for them. But I will say that the process of making a painting specifically for a family or individual is wonderful in the trust and intimacy it involves and I love that aspect of it. The stories inspire me to try to find that connection to the individual as well as to honor them and their lives and relationships to each other and it also inspires me try to make the environment they choose for the setting resonate and feel familiar to them. I also think about the painting in the future. Who will it live with? Will they understand and know the stories too? Will it hold meaning?
Both these paintings have a future in future generations. I feel sure that the family portrait will eventually go to grandchildren. And a wonderful thing will transpire with the painting of the two friends- The friend (the woman with the dogs) gifted the painting to her dear friend (the woman on the horse) - but the woman on the horse has no children, so the painting will go to the granddaughter of the woman who originally gifted it. Sort of a magical arrangement. And that means a lot to me.
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