Portraits of the Southern Tier

Describe yourself in one word: Happy
Long Description: Avid reader, enjoys travel, loves good food, Centered and content person. Volunteers for wheels on meals, food bank and enjoy time with family and friends
Most challenging part for me was sitting still. Enjoyed my modeling very much. I do my thing as an artist and never observed other people doing art so I enjoyed someone else creating. It was really interesting for me to watch you paint. I was watching you think, mix colors, scrub paint off and at every break, checked to where you were. I liked how you talked when you were painting the big objects and then didn’t want me to talk because you were concentrating. You make the best faces when painting. It was interesting to be on the opposite side of easel. My portrait looks quite a bit like me. Eyes, shape of face, hair and given the time frame in which you painted me, it was quite incredible. I especially love the portrait of Howard Coleman, quite spectacular!

Artist: “I signed up, but I don’t like to sit still,” Debb mentioned as she walked in. I smiled and said “I’m sure you’ll do fine,”  as she was the Nth person who had told me that. Debb is an artist whose work I admire. I, however, never really got to know her, even though we meet at many artist gatherings. As she posed, I was making a mental note to myself about being less ambitious for the next model. I knew she was pale-skinned with very uniform variations in tone from hair to neck, and then I suggested pastel and white clothes! A high-key painting is what I had in mind, but in the time frame given, it was a challenge!  “Crazy woman, tone down your ambition,” I told myself.
I pushed my insecurities aside and started painting. A half hour before her sitting ended, I was so unhappy with the likeness that I erased her entire left side and started painting with her eyes closer together. That’s it. That did it. I had her likeness, her “content” look, and had pushed color to the extent I wanted. I was exuberant.

Describe yourself in one word: Bubbly
Long Description: I am Confidant, regal, wise, a leader. When I first came in, I was so excited, I didn't sleep the night before. I was afraid too. Afraid that the portrait wouldn't look like me and I would have to lie to Mrs. Akula so as not to hurt her feelings. It was a fun process that got very hard towards the end. That is the longest I have sat without moving much. I can now tell my kids "You can't sit still for a minute and I sat for 8 hours for a portrait". I would however do it again and knowing what to expect would do a better job at posing. The first day was creepy. It was so much fun to see how it started. I saw another Yvie on the easel and her eyes followed me everywhere I went. The next day, as it became half color and half drawing it looked less like me but as the color kept going in, it started to look like me again. I feel like I can kind of relate to it in a way. It reminds me of a picture I have with my sister. I feel very elegant and confidant every time I see that picture and it is interesting that someone else sees me that way. It brought out a whole different style of how I act in front of people. 

Artist: I’ve known Yvie since first grade. “Wow, what a beautiful room!” was followed by, “I feel like a princess!” when she stepped onto the model stand. She stayed confident the whole time, though I wondered why she moved her head so often.  Every slight shift changes perspective.  She demanded intense focus on  my part to be able to capture likeness while I was conversing.  I found this very challenging.
After the portrait, I realized she had quietly, without complaining, faced two fears—of old things and spiders. Her long lock of hair in front reminded her of crawling spiders, and she kept shaking off the imaginary ones. Her demeanor however was not of fear but confidence. How brave!
Knowing this story was insightful. I had captured her brave, proud, and elegant side—very different from the bubbly, outspoken girl I’d always known.