Presence

I just got the excellent news that I got second place at an art show at Crossroads Art Center here in Richmond for my piece, Presence.  There's an opening this Friday from 6-10 with the juror's talk at 7.  I'd love to see you there if you can come!

This piece was quite a journey in the making.  There are so many different "pieces" of it where there's light then shadow, so painting it was sort of like putting together pieces of a puzzle.  The light hits each one differently, so the trick for me was to make each part luminous then to make them all fit together in a unified way.  I thought I was done at one point, then let it sit for quite a while before going back into it and re-working it, making it richer and more successful.

That said, I really love the image.  The model for it was having a great time modeling, but we weren't getting any particularly terrific shots when we decided to try a prop.  The chair seemed like a good option.  It was perfect!  Immediately we knew we'd found the key.  The picture on the right was one of the first ones I took.  I love the curve of the shadow on her back and the lusciousness of her curves and the way the light caresses them.

The top picture I like because of her presence.  She is such a powerful woman, bold, secure in herself, and I think that comes through clearly in this image.  I'm curious to hear what the juror has to say about it and what appealed to him/her about it.

Hope to see y'all there!