Mixed Media on canvas, stretched and ready to hang.

Signed on the back.

This artwork comes with an external frame

A question I get asked a lot is “who is it? Do you know them?” Most of the time the answer is no, it’s a stock photo. Most portraits I paint I choose because they inspire me and tell me they want to be painted, or it could be a particular mood I want to convey and will trawl through social media or stock sites to find a portrait that would match.

For this one, this face found me. I just loved the way the light sat, and the mood portrayed. I drew out a sketch and planned it, breaking out from the then smaller tighter portraits I was painting. I had yearned to paint something bigger and bolder.

The work became part of the Second Strand series, circa 2017. Unsold, it was revamped as part of Just Quietly. Reflecting upon popular culture with layers of current affairs and other aesthetics. The window shapes on the left, and the skeleton anatomy were a response to the churches being burned in Canada after children’s bodies were found buried beneath a number of schools. I wanted this to be subtle, a gentle layer upon the amalgamation of textures within the work. The other imagery was chosen with my love for graphic art and typography. Blended with what was existing for a composition that felt balanced and and expressed the mood I wanted.