This concludes my year-long biweekly studio blog. Thanks for your positive response to the details of my portrait process, inspiration and career achievements. If you are landing on this page for the first time, I invite you to browse the posts below to learn about my lifelong passion for portraiture.
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On the Easel
Painted in oil on linen panel, this portrait study measures 5.25 x 7". The final 36 x 48" portrait is currently on my easel. My portrait sitter is an elegant lady who is accompanied by her loyal terrier companion. Their natural pose fell in a striking composition. Exceptionally stylish, she sat for me at over 90 years of age. Known to scour clothing boutiques for vintage treasures, her style sense makes for a fantastic painting exercise in textures on the larger canvas. Her beaded necklace strands, chiffon scarf and metallic head wrap offset her wool suit and dog's soft coat. However, at the scale of this preliminary portrait study, such details must be reserved as flat shapes to emphasize the greater composition as a whole.
Dr. Arthur Kleinman Harvard Portrait Encore Ceremony
In a previous blog post, I detailed my portrait sittings with notable Harvard Professor Arthur Kleinman. First unveiled in Boston at Harvard’s Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, the portrait now hangs in the University's new LEED-certified Tozzer Anthropology Building in Cambridge, MA. Shown at right is a moment from that encore unveiling ceremony. Also shown is the 5.75 x 7.75” preparatory head study of Dr. Kleinman that I painted from life in his office during one of our initial sittings. Such oil studies are a useful reference tool for me back in the studio while working on the larger portrait, as their immediacy helps capture the likeness and personality of my sitter.
John Singer Sargent
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)
In my mind, no artist is more skilled in the bravura manner of painting than American painter John Singer Sargent (1856-1925). Known for his bold, precise, economic brushwork, Sargent's oil paintings are simply breathtaking. His drawings and watercolors seem just as effortless. However, such results came from great deliberation, as Sargent was known to repeatedly scrape away his attempts until satisfied.
Sargent was born in Florence, Italy in 1856 to American parents. He studied briefly in Florence before continuing his studies in Paris with Carolus-Duran at the École des Beaux Arts. He established himself as a premiere portrait painter of the upper class, often traveling between England and America for business. His U.S. commissions include the official White House portrait of President Theodore Roosevelt.
Here in Boston, where Sargent had strong New England roots, the city proudly maintains a heavy presence of his work at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (MFA), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston Public Library, and The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Jay Marsden Portrait Boston's Favorite Train Conductor
Although I painted his portrait over a decade ago, I'm most often asked about my sittings with Jay Marsden, 4th-generation conductor on the Boston railroad. Commuters relied on his warmth and quick wit to brighten their trek in and out of city. He'd often ask passengers to choose an exotic dream location he'd then announce as the train's "final stop." At Christmastime, he was known to dress as Santa Claus and hand out candy canes en route!
At the time of Jay's retirement in 2005 after 36 years of service, I was fortunate to paint his portrait and learn more about his amazing legacy. It was an honor to hold the heirloom railroad watches and keys that had belonged to his father and grandfather. Just before Jay's brother and fellow conductor Zeke passed away in 1991, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) dedicated Engine #1921 in Zeke's honor. The engine made a fitting background for Jay's portrait.
Jay is such an asset to the city of Boston, The Boston Globe ran a feature on his career to mark his retirement. I'm quite pleased to have had my portrait of him accompany that article, and am proud to consider Jay a friend. Those who feel his absence on the train should know that while Jay misses them, too, he is thoroughly enjoying his retirement!
Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones
(Bottom right photo courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. All other photos courtesy of Barbara Lehman Smith.)
One of my chief painting heroes is American painter Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones (1885-1968). Born in Baltimore, MD, she studied under William Merritt Chase at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, earning many accolades and awards. Shown above, her paintings Shoe Shop (1911) and Shop Girls (1912) demonstrate sheer mastery of bravura brushwork. She painted with great brilliance through most of her twenties, then suffered an unfortunate breakdown. She resumed her work upon her recovery years later, but her style became more raw and emotive.
I've visited The Art Institute of Chicago to see the breathtaking Shoe Shop and was deeply moved. It was the only time I have overlooked the John Singer Sargent painting in the room! I first stumbled upon a note card of Sparhawk-Jones’ work over twenty years ago and connected immediately. Since there were no web resources at the time, I worked in close written correspondence with various museums and historical commissions to learn more about this incredible artist. These sources graciously supplied me with photocopies and other reference materials regarding Sparhawk-Jones’ life and work.
Over time I have found others who also treasure her. In fact, author Barbara Lehman Smith recently published a book about Sparhawk-Jones entitled, Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones: The Artist Who Lived Twice. Learn more about Elizabeth's amazing life at www.elizabethsparhawkjones.com.
Self Portrait Study
Painted from life a few years ago, this self portrait was completed in oil on a 5 x 7 1/4” linen panel. I wanted to focus solely on the light/dark pattern and chose to paint in an open grisaille (griz-EYE). Grisaille originates from the French word gris, or gray. An open grisaille is a painting method that uses semi-transparent gray or neutral tones to establish initial shapes of light and dark (Painting in a closed grisaille carries forward with the addition of white paint to achieve an opaque, full tonal value range using monochromatic tones). Here, using a single paint value, I sought to capture accurate shapes of the light/dark pattern to achieve proper drawing proportion and likeness.