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.