Painting People

Portrait painting needs to be more than just a photo-type likeness.  As an artist you have to paint what people think the person looks like.

I always feel the true likeness lives partway between the actual physical face and what we think or feel about that person–like a filter halfway between us.  

Our inside perception of a person changes what we see with our eyes.

Portrait of William Viles

A commissioned portrait of William Viles for the Elsie and William Viles Charitable Foundation.  A companion piece to Portrait of Elsie Viles. oil on canvas,

Wedding Portrait

Wedding Portrait of Helen

This classic wedding portrait was painted in a manner reminiscent of John Singer Sargent as a wedding gift to a family friend known since childhood.

Father Eason greeting the Reverend Penney


My commissioned portrait of the Reverend Penney being greeted by Father Eason in the summer of 1862 was unveiled in Penney Memorial Baptist Church in Augusta.

Oil on canvas, 36 x 30 inches.

I was commissioned to commemorate the first initial meeting of Pastor Charles Penney and John Eason, known as Father Eason, after Penney’s first service in his new parish. In later life Penney wrote in his memoirs he felt particularly welcomed with this warm hand clasp.

Portrait of Elsie Viles

A commissioned portrait of Elsie Viles for the Elsie and William Viles Charitable Foundation.  A companion piece to Portrait of William Viles. oil on canvas,

Lili Charles

Portrait of Lili Charles, oil on canvas, 22 x 40 inches, 2013 This is a man I met on Virgin Gorda and he posed while

Vincent Millay

Portrait of Edna St Vincent Millay, oil on canvas 2017 I painted this portrait for the Millay Poetry Festival in Rockland, Maine in 2017.  This

Oil Portrait of Judy Wathen, commissioned by Daniel Wathen

Oil Portrait – Judy Wathen

Oil Portrait of Judy Wathen, commissioned by her husband, Daniel Wathen.  The artist captures her elegant toughness perfectly.  Her stance is alert, composed yet ready

Downtown Café

acrylic on canvas, 2018, 18 x 42 in. An illustration of a local café scene.

Portrait of Jenny

Shown and sold at the 2005 Contemporary Realism Show, Center for Living Arts, Mobile, Alabama.  The use of wax medium (beeswax melted in turpentine) facilitates