"Lover's Eye"

Oil on porcelain - 1" x 1 1/4" 
I was commissioned a while back - OK, a long while back - to paint a "lover's eye" for a dear friend. For those not familiar - miniature portraits of just an eye, set in elaborate brooches, lavaliers, stickpins or even small boxes were secretly exchanged between clandestine lovers during the turn of the eighteenth century. Eye, brow, perhaps a wisp of hair was just enough to keep one's lover close but not reveal his or her identity. The girl for whom this was painted is quite the jewelry aficionado and I have no doubt she will find the right craftsman to set this properly. As for its ultimate recipient - she'll never tell.

 Addendum:  This is the finished mounting,  created by master goldsmith Lauren Schott here in Baltimore.  Made to wear as a lavalier or a pin, it is a really beautiful setting. 

"Monica's Wedding"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel - 8" x 10"

Technically speaking this was the first painting completed in 2012. However, I have been working on it for quite some time. It was a challenge since the original reference was artfully taken in black and white and I had to transpose the color from a plethora of miscellaneous snapshots from the wedding. The painting was commissioned by my friend Deb who provides the following commentary:

– Monica was married on June 24, 2011 in Penang, Malaysia in a Hindu ceremony. This is an image of her following the wedding in her wedding sari, which is traditionally red. The ornate necklace which can be seen is customarily placed on the bride during the ceremony in lieu of a wedding ring. During the ceremony, Monica’s hair was covered by a scarf, which remained on until the ceremony was completed. When it came off, an elegant braid was revealed underneath. The jasmine in her hair is the flower customarily worn; the smell was exquisite.

For those of you not familiar with Hindu weddings, they definitely know how to party. These festivities lasted for four days and at each event there was wonderful food and drink, with all who were present dressed to the nines in fabulous saris, gowns, cocktail dresses and amazing Indian garb. On the first day, there was an engagement party where the engaged couple received blessings. On the second day there was a Mehendi party where the bride and female wedding guests received henna tattoos on their hands, arms, legs and/or feet. This was followed by a Sangeet, an evening party, held under a tent on the beach. On the third day, the wedding took place under a tent at sunset followed by another fabulous meal. The kilted groom and his family, who are Scottish, were escorted to the wedding site by a group of bagpipers. People hung out their windows to see this sight in tropical Penang. Finally, on the fourth day, there was a formal reception.

The painting was commissioned as a gift for Monica’s mother, Usha, in thanks for her warmth, generosity and hospitality. The original photographs that were used as reference for this painting were taken by Monica’s new sister-in-law, Alicia Betham.

"Young Equestrian"

Oil on Canvas  -  20" x 30"

Regular visitors to the studio will recognize this portrait and might have assumed it was from my personal collection.  As well they might.  This portrait and a companion piece of her brother have been my constant companions in the studio for almost two years.  "Two years?" you might ask.  "Why so long?"  It's like this; A patron of mine wanted copies made of two portraits that I had done in the 90's of her children. In fifteen years one's skill level (hopefully) improves.  I am a much better painter now than I was then.  Do I faithfully render the early work in my old hand or bring them up to the present?  It is something I have been grappling with for quite a while.  Since I still had the old reference, I chose to compromise.  They are still very close to the originals but I think they have a certain je ne sais quoi. 

Piper

Oil on canvas mounted on wood panel - 6" x 8"

Most men of my generation remember fondly the illustrations in the Playboy Advisor section of Playboy magazine by the iconic Patrick Nagel. (We read it for the articles, after all.) Nagel left us too early back in 1984 but he left a legacy of graphic images that are imprinted onto our very souls. I have lived happily with one of his silkscreens for many years. A friend recently sent me an image of her daughter that begged for the Nagel treatment. Stripping the image to its base elements, although second nature in the silkscreen process, is not intuitive when painting in oil. Doing this, however, allowed for a graphic image that harkened back to those lovely illustrations of my youth. Thank you, Patrick.

"Study for the English Horn Player - 1975"

Oil on panel - 1975 - 9" x 12"

I did this study of Uncle Bob when I was 23 years old. Back in my early days of portraiture I used a grisaille under-painting and glazed the color overtop via Maroger’s medium. Thus I could concentrate on each element of the design; form and color separately. The result of this was that your eye penetrated through the transparent glazes at different rates of speed and created a three dimensional effect. I used this technique all through the 70’s