Description

I felt an urge to paint this portrait of Marcia – it’s adapted from a photo I took of her, with her enigmatic smile and vivid colours, outside at night in Barcelona. I wanted to convey my love and appreciation, so I acted on the energy. I warned my sister-in-law Marcia, in a message, that I’d painted her. I asked her to let me know when she was ready for me to send over the jpg of it. She replied, “scary”. She got to see the portrait the next day, at home, before going to work. She was apprehensive at first, saying, “Not bad Emma! I like it!” After a few days she got back to me again saying, “The more I look, the more I like. I love this portrait Emma!”

I replied, “I find that the longer it takes for a painting to grow on me, the more compelling it ends up being for me. Perfection can be boring after a short while, it doesn’t hold our attention.” This is what you want from the art you live with, a piece that you can keep on looking at and it keeps on giving you more and more.

I simplified the tones and made all the colours up because the original colours were bland. It took a while to get the right shade of turquoise that’s reflected in the shadows of the skin.

I’m really enjoying creating portraits, let me know if you’d like to commission one?