Friday, June 10, 2016

Kate


This is Kate. She and my son were classmates when they went to Montessori fifteen years ago. She was an adorable girl then and has grown to become a beautiful young woman in so many ways. I made two portraits of her because I couldn't decide which photo to use. I worked on them both at the same time in my huge Moleskine sketchbook, flipping back and forth. It was kind of interesting doing it that way because she was a few years younger in the photo I worked off of for this portrait but my portrait makes her look a few years older - closer to the way she looks in the other portrait I was drawing - closer to the way she looks now.

I wrote "u are free" all over her face. This was a phrase that got stuck in my brain when I was in Nepal recently. It's not entirely random that I wrote it on her but I also don't know exactly why I did - I could say that about so many of the things I do to these portraits. I am aware she has visited Nepal and has an affinity for the people there and that part of the world. For me, "u are free" became a mantra of sorts. Something I would think about from time to time. Am I free? What does it mean to be free? Are any of us really free? I saw it written in spray paint on a brick wall on the drive from the airport in Kathmandu to my hotel. A simple piece of graffiti that got stuck in my brain and now it's a value for Kate's portrait. If you have any thoughts about this portrait or the phrase "u are free" I would love for you to comment.

11x17 pencil in my huge Moleskine sketchbook. #249

2 comments:

WILDSIDE said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
WILDSIDE said...

OK, that was Wildside, and back to delete another crazy rambling comment just left about your question...

But happy again to see another of your portraits and the partial story behind.