Heather Holding Flowers, oil, 50 x 40” (127 x 101 cm) 

Thomas Root

Inspiration
The subject is my favorite model, Heather, who has posed for me regularly for over 20 years. The painting was done entirely from live sittings in my studio. I liked the idea of a silhouetted full figure, and so I seated Heather in front of a freight door that opened onto a sunny railroad bed. My goal was to make a rich painting of the utmost simplicity, one that communicated feeling through restraint and balance. The painting was not intended to tell a story, but when I worked on this, I wanted to express the idea of simple human hope because the national trauma of the pandemic was still fresh in my mind.

Process
Because my canvas was large, I did a preparatory line drawing from life to work out the design and proportions of the figure to the shape of the canvas. Then I manually sized-up the drawing to my canvas via a grid. The painting required many hours of sitting from the model over the course of a summer. I kept simplifying the background until I had reduced the doorway, railroad bed and building shadow to abstract shapes that supported the figure without distracting from it. The black-eyed susans were repainted many times until there were just three. For whatever reason, that felt right to me, and it was intuition that guided the whole painting.

Tuirse, oil, 14 x 11” (35 x 27 cm)

Kristina Havens

Inspiration
Sometimes the best model is the one that will work for the least amount of money; that’s why there are so many self-portraits. I had an itch to try and paint a portrait that was, in a way, intentionally “ugly.” By using myself as a reference, I was giving myself permission to explore paint application and color and not necessarily catch a likeness with the most accuracy or flattery.  

Process
I started the panel with thin layers of warm transparent colors, taking advantage of the simplified forms created by my stark self-portrait, which was photographed with a strong overhead light and then converted to a black and white reference, encouraging me to pay attention to values and shapes, not colors. The panel allowed every brush stroke to really stand out on the surface. I also used a palette knife, laying on the clean, intense, opaque bright blue skin tones and background, even using the edge of the knife to catch subtle highlights in the eyes.

The title, Tuirse, an Irish-Gaelic term which is pronounced “Teersha,” means a deep soul fatigue, a sorrowness. This self-portrait and the cool, almost icy palette, ended up embodying how I have felt over the last two years since my husband passed away. I am still me, yet not quite me.

Mr. McConnell, oil, 44 x 34” (111 x 86 cm)

Samuel Walter

Inspiration
I met Mr. McConnell in April and got to spend two days painting and talking with him. We discussed almost everything from music and art to psychology and religion. His entire apartment is filled with colorful, vibrant paintings and sculptures from all around the world. Mr. McConnell was a doctor for many years and is a wildlife photographer, art collector, and avid reader and writer. He is exceptionally friendly, has an excellent sense of humor and a sharp wit. Unfortunately, he has had serious health issues for the last decade, and his wife of 50 years recently passed away. There were times amid our conversations that a brief shade of melancholy would pass over his face. In the painting I tried to capture his vibrancy, cheerfulness, good humor, his love of art and his energy, despite his poor health and losses in life. The week after I returned to my studio, I received several boxes in the mail filled with all the Oliver Sacks books we had talked about over dinner. 

Process
The painting was based on photographs and sketches I made in person as well as a drawing and gouache painting I made in the studio. The background contains an abstract aboriginal piece from his collection that I thought really captured his personality.

Mr. Rain Kirjanen, oil on canvas, 48 x 29” (121 x 73 cm)

Aapo Pukk

Inspiration
I received a letter that began: “My best friend’s 40th birthday is coming up, and I’d like to surprise him with something he doesn’t have, a portrait of himself. If possible, paint from photographs, so the surprise remains.” I agreed on the condition that I take the photographs.

When I visited the birthday celebrant’s home to discuss size, placement and style, three ideas immediately stood out: “a portrait of the best friend,” “he already has almost everything—except a portrait,” and “a man from the future.” His home confirmed that impression. He collects complex strategy games, Twilight Imperium and the whole 18xx series, carefully arranged in color-coded zones. In illuminated niches stood Star Wars starships. A silent, liquid-cooled custom computer completed the picture of someone living slightly ahead of the present.

I felt he collected not only objects, but life itself, even himself. So, I imagined the portrait as a minimalist white “cosmos,” placing him inside his own world, as if one niche held not a starship but the man. In my studio I photographed him extensively, then narrowed the images with the client until one remained, an image that held his humor, originality, and presence.

Process
Though I painted from photographs, I followed my usual method: stepping back, checking the mirror, squinting, making deliberate brushstrokes. I used icon-painting techniques for the underlayers and colors, then returned to my familiar approach for the final, documentary-like surface. When the work was finished, the client wrote: “A magnificent painting! It captures Rain perfectly.” The minimalist frame echoed the starship niches. The birthday celebrant was equally delighted.