This project contains a series of three paintings of strong and courageous women from the Old Testament, otherwise known as the Jewish Bible.  While each woman has a special place in the history and religion of the Jewish people, they also represent principles important to Christianity.  The story of Queen Esther portrays Faith, Hannah embodies Hope, and Ruth and Naomi exemplify the concept of Charity.  

some new portraits

For the last few years I've been painting figures in interior spaces.  Sometimes specific, other times ambiguous, each piece tells a little story. 

I start by having a model in my studio and often other artists come to work with me.  We experiment with different poses and setups until we arrive at the magic combination.  I've been lucky to have wonderful models!  If you notice, Luz is featured in most of these paintings.  She's an award-winning actress who also, fortunately for me, loves to pose for artists.  The model in "Seeking Wisdom" is my husband who posed patiently for many hours for that painting.  

One of my favorite things in the whole world is to work in the studio with fellow artists and a great model!

In the fall of 2015, I decided to sit in on Mark Karnes' landscape and interior painting class at MICA where I also teach.  I did it so that I would go outside to paint landscapes, but the biggest surprise for me was the love and interest I developed for painting interior spaces.  I began to look not only at the figure in front of me but at the entire environment in a new way.  This experience changed the direction of my work.  I began to combine still life objects, something I'd always painted, with the portrait and figure, my favorite subjects.  This was my entree into narrative painting.

"Nude on My Grandmother's Chair" was the first one in this series.  I can't quite remember the order of the others and many were done simultaneously since the models came on different days of the week.  "Alexandra Playing her Cello" and "Spinning Wool" are part of a series I hope to continue on women engaging in their talents.

I would like to note that I always work from life, never from photographs.  For me, the excitement of the artistic process is intrinsically connected to the experience of the world around me.

Still lifes are a wonderful subject, little worlds unto themselves!

Portraiture

I spent many years only drawing and doing sculpture in preparation for painting portraits. Here I have included five drawings and five paintings. All portraits were done from life in my studio, and all of the paintings were done with natural light. Portraiture is perhaps my favorite subject. There's nothing like watching a person's personality unfold on his or her face as you paint them. I've been teaching portraiture for years, and I always tell my students to watch for the small movements that lend expression to the sitter. If a snapshot captures a moment in time, the artist working from life has the opportunity to observe and document the inner person as it manifests itself over time.

More still lifes....

Some of these are portraits done in 3 or 4 sittings, so they have a partially finished and partially unfinished quality.  Portraiture is the most fascinating of subjects.  I love to discover the personality of the model as I observe the small changes in expression over time.

Landscape and interiors

These are just a few examples of drawing, both charcoal and graphite, portrait and figure.