Is painting a portrait so different from painting a flower of a tree? Isn’t it all just color and lines and angles? Perhaps this is so for some figure painting but when it comes to portraits there is heightened question of likeness, emotion, expression and character and maybe all of this can be said of a twisted old pine but we are not hardwired to conifers, our neurons light up for people.

I like a portrait that engages the viewer, that can convey who they are or what they’re feeling through their posture, expression and most of all through the eyes. In Blue Corset the direct gaze is the key to the painting and everything else, the vibrant  colors, patterns, textures and style, the busy out of focus bulletin board in the background and the intriguing tattoo are all there to give a glimpse at what might lie behind those eyes.