Illustrated History

This summer I have been concentrating on building my business as a fine artist and much of that time has been spent on commissioned work. I especially enjoy making art that is meaningful and full of metaphor, so I have been working on Custom Moment Portraits (weddings, etc.) Family Portraits and Dream Portraits. It feels like a really good fit for how I work naturally and I love knowing that a painting I have painted has become a cherished momento, to be passed down through generations.

Last weekend was my husband's birthday and I painted a Family Portrait for him. It got me thinking about all of the artwork that I made that was either for him or inspired by him and our life together. We met at art school 16 years ago. I was a painting major and he was a photo major. I modeled for him and the work he did with me was a catalyst for his future work. I was trying to find my "voice" and the paintings I did inspired by our time together felt the most sincere. It was very different from the work done by other painters at the school, which tended more towards abstract, and I often felt I didn't "fit but like I said it was the real me.

As I thought back on all of those paintings I realized for the past 16 years I have been painting Moment Portraits and Dream Portraits and Family Portraits. I actually have an Illustrated history of my life with my husband. Here are some of my favorites:

A Moment Portrait from our Sr. year. Jeff's mother had died 5 years earlier and it was her birthday. We flew a hand painted kite in her memory, and just as we got ready to reel it in and save it for the following year a huge gust of wind took the kite out of Jeff's hands. Our dog helped us chase it down the hill before we decided that this was most definitely a sign from above & we watched as it flew out to sea.



After graduating we drove cross country in an RV and spent the summer in Alaska, where I'm originally from. Upon returning to Maine we rented our first home together. I painted the frame of this mirror for our first house it illustrates the story of our first 5 years together.



Our wedding vows on Peaks Island, Maine. I did a 5 painting series called "Island Wedding" in which I illustrated the whole day of our wedding, the ferry ride, walk to the beach, ceremony, recessional band jam, dancing at the reception. I gave a painting to each of my bridesmaids as gifts. This one I gave to Jeff and it hangs in our bedroom.



Upon the birth of our first child I did this Family Portrait of our family bed. My daughter always had one finger in her mouth and her other hand down my shirt! This painting hangs above our bed.



Check out the family portrait, which includes our second child, that I finished for my husband's birthday here.

This painting is another portrait of the four of us, still in progress:



As you can see, my own family gives me endless inspiration, but capturing other people's memorable occasions and important loved ones has given me immeasurable joy as well!