Essence is a collection of twenty-eight large and medium sized oil paintings, portraits of interesting persons of different ages and energies from very gentle to very strong, discouraged to joyful.
As an artist I have always been fascinated by people and drawn to figure and portrait painting. I am a people watcher and am amazed at how we all have two eyes, a nose and a mouth, yet we are all unique. As a portrait artist over the last 37 years I have enjoyed trying to capture the infinite variety of all kinds of people, different races, ages, colouring combinations, shapes and sizes.
Initially, in the early years, how the models or “subjects” looked occupied my efforts. It takes many years of practice to accomplish a good likeness, correct skin tones, and an accurate understanding of the human proportions, bones and muscles. Creating and teaching an Anatomy for the Artist course at St Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, helped to strengthen these skills. However, there is much more to a successful portrait than just a good likeness.
Creating a painted portrait is a very different project from creating a photographic portrait. The image is created using one’s eye and hand skills, intuition, canvas, paint and mediums alone. I do not work from photographs. The model has to sit or stand for hours at a time. The artist and model work together in symbiotic cooperation to make the image. Over the years of working intimately with many models hour after hour, sharing thoughts, feelings and life experiences, one realizes, of course, that there is much more to each person than what meets the eye. Something invisible. Some would call it energy, spirit or soul. Whatever we call it, it is also unique. With this selection of portraits I am trying with colour, pose, expression, lighting and backgrounds to express something of that vital essence of each person.
The exhibition continues through Sept 30.