The Artist_s Magazine 2016-03__

42 http://www.artistsmagazine.com

same with her. I also worked on the mirror as

Glenn or Yael posed ( 11 ). During sessions with

Glenn, I caught the relection of the back of

his head. My arm and palette table appear in

the relection as well—my salute to Velázquez.

Jarno: The Active Child

hroughout the months of painting I’d felt

sometrepidationknowingI’deventuallyhave

to contend with the igure of Jarno. As an active

8-year-old, he was often in motion. his is an

asset in playing sports—not so much in posing

foranartisttryingtopaintalikeness.Mysalva-

tion came in the form of the computer game

WorldofMinecraft.Videosofpeopleplayingthe

game fascinated Jarno, thus enabling him to

stay still. Like his sister, he has long, blond hair

thatwasfuntopaint.IthinkIdidmanageto

getalikenessofhim( 12 ).

Denouement

Duringtheinalweeks,afterthesittersleft

fortheday,Icontinuedtoworkonpartsof

thepaintingthattheydidnotdirectlyoccupy,

suchasthewalls,carpet,chairsandmirror.

Weallsensedthatthepaintingwasnearing

completion. Several months had passed since

wehadstartedtheproject,andwehadspenta

lotoftimetogetherinthestudio.Igotthefeel-

ing that Glenn and Yael were a bit wistful.

Pressuretoinishthepaintingtookonan

unexpected urgency in mid-August. Glenn

had been of ered a job at a PBS ai liate in New

Hampshire, and he planned to accept it. He

would be moving out of town immediately. We

did manage to arrange one i nal sitting during

which I worked on parts of his i gure and head.

I felt I also needed a little more time with

Yael. I could tell she was a bit concerned about

the way she looked in the portrait, although

she was reluctant to say so. She admitted that

she felt that the painting made her look a little

stressed. What mother in today’s world with

a career and a family wouldn’t be? We had

one more session in November before I had

the painting photographed (see Ksander Hicks

Family Portrait, at right). Yael is a beautiful and

striking woman. I didn’t consciously soften her

likeness, but I did look more deeply into what

I was seeing as I painted. I think we’re both

happy that we had this i nal sitting.

Sadly, since I painted the portrait of the

Ksander Hicks family, Yael and Glenn have

separated. h e role of artists who paint from

life is a limited one. h eir job is to studiously

regard events, people and things as they appear

on the surface. I have known both Yael and

Glenn for many years, and I like and respect

them both. Painting them along with their

children, Jarno and Solveig, was a privilege.

In any social situation one senses that there

may be a dif erent dynamic between people

privately than when they interact socially. h e

nature of life is change. ■

11 12

ABOVE LEFT: 11.

(July 23) Refl ections

in the mirror

ABOVE RIGHT: 12.

(September 21)

Development of boy

seated on the fl oor

(Jarno)

OPPOSITE: Ksander

Hicks Family Por-

trait (oil on canvas,

72x60)

Learn More

ONLINE

For a link to Tim

Kennedy’s feature

article from the

June 2014 issue

of The Artist’s

Magazine, go to

artistsnetwork.com/

learnmore2016.