Child's Portrait

This is a portrait of a child, around the age of five. Of the male gender.

There's a bit of a story behind why I was commissioned to do it, but so as not to embarrass the one whom the story is about, I will not tell it.

I know, I'm very mysterious.

The Church Key

The Church Key is a fairly new bar located in the Grove (Manchester Rd and Vandeventer)and is where these paintings are now on display. The cool thing about The Church Key, despite the obvious reason stated above, is that it is furnished with materials which were scrapped from a nearby Catholic church when it was torn down. They have stained glass located throughout, church pews are fashioned as booths, bar foot rests are comprised of kneeling pads, and even the bar itself is a section from the choir loft. Best of all, in my opinion, is that it is a smoke-free bar. The result being that you wont leave there smelling like ass.

... By the word "ass" I'm of course referencing a species of animal.

These paintings are for sale at the bar. The only challenge was creating 3 paintings that flow together when placed side by side, though still having the ability to compliment each other if any one of the 3 canvases is removed. And of course, in the event that one is sold, it needs to have enough interest to where it looks great when displayed alone.

... And I had a week to accomplish this. I'm not bragging at all.

Here's a link to The Church Key's website if you'd like to find out a bit more: www.thechurchkeystl.com.

It's a rather nice place. If you go, tell the owner that you are completely amazed at the quality of art displayed on their West wall, and maybe I can get some more stuff in there. Ok, I'm just kidding ... kind of.

Portrait of a mother

This one was fun because I had to think outside the box a bit. My friend Lindsey asked me to paint a portrait of her mother with the specific request that I had to also paint an aura surrounding the image of her mother. Using three colors: white, gold, and sage green (in that order) I had to conceive in my mind, what someone's aura would look like, and project that in the background. It was a fun challenge in that I had to use a bit of my imagination - something that is often unnecessary when painting a portrait from photographs.