As the (self appointed) leader of portrait painting in Boston, I am always out and about, running my mouth about how under appreciated and under utilized portraiture is as an expressive art form. The fact that we all spend such a huge part of our time looking at, and interpreting, faces gives images that include them such a tangible power, even for viewers that would might otherwise have little interest or ability in decoding a piece of art. In spite of this (or maybe because of this) people seem very quick to dismiss the potential of portrait painting to reach beyond the simple record of an individual. I think most people that know me have been forced to sit through at least one rant about this.
Maybe I spend a little too much time ranting because, people are often surprised to learn that I also paint commissioned portraits. Despite my ambitions to use portraiture as a medium for artistic exploration, I still enjoy the act of simply creating a painting as a beautiful map of a life. It is not news to anyone reading this that, my own inclination is to dig deeply into a subjects features, finding the treasure of colors and textures within the skin. People sitting for portraits, on the other hand, want to have their best self presented and, the whole situation creates a wonderful tension within the strokes that make their way onto the canvas.
I guess that is just a long winded way to say, here is a commissioned portrait that I finished a little while back.
