Portland artist Gwenn Seemel 2007: a year in this American portrait painter's life.

Portraiture has long resisted positive identification: is it craft or is it art? The fine art community dismisses portraits as mimesis and their makers as having just a happy knack for capturing a person's soul. The genre was once considered a low art fit only for women painters. These days, a fine artist can dabble in portraiture--paint her-his lover or accept a commission for some public figure--but it is unheard of that a real artist should commit her-him self to the genre.
I paint portraits. I am an artist who strongly believes that delivery is not only as important as content, it is integral to content. I am a craftsperson who knows that a well-made thing can change a person's day in subtle but important ways, and that a well-made thing with a greater purpose can change a person's life.


	Portraiture has long resisted positive identification: is it craft or is it art? The fine art community dismisses portraits as mimesis and their makers as having just a happy knack for capturing a person's soul. The genre was once considered a low art fit only for women painters. These days, a fine artist can dabble in portraiture--paint her-his lover or accept a commission for some public figure--but it is unheard of that a real artist should commit her-him self to the genre. I paint portraits. I am an artist who strongly believes that delivery is not only as important as content, it is integral to content. I am a craftsperson who knows that a well-made thing can change a person's day in subtle but important ways, and that a well-made thing with a greater purpose can change a person's life.
	In 2007, I made a commitment to a change in style that began in 2006: I included background images in my portraits more regularly. My conceptual show, Swollen, was the first public showing of this change. Also in 2007, I started painting portrait bags.