The gentle art of making portraits

James McNeill Whistler wasn’t the only artist to struggle with portraiture as a genre, but his Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter’s Mother proves that he’s one of the artists who won the struggle. 

Portrait of the artist’s father

For Subjective, my portrait of my father is the portrait of a winning moment.

Blind collaboration

Becca and I made up this term to describe our strange sort of collaboration.  Though we teamed up to conceive Subjective and later to work on the logistics of mounting and touring the show, we were, for the most part, artistically independent of each other in our partnership.

Relating and portraiture

One of the most interesting aspects of working on Subjective has been learning about how my relationships with my subjects affect the finished portraits.  I always knew that they did, but it wasn’t until I sat down and performed this experiment on myself that I understood the full extent. 

What the Arlésienne is missing

Long before Becca and I created Subjective, artists like Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin were making paintings from the same subject.

The Dregs at the Art Gym

Brandy Cochrane and Paul Middendorf’s Dregs, on view at the Marylhurst Art Gym right now, raises important questions about consent and responsibility in portraiture. 

Art-Beat-ilicious!

Last night, my work was featured on OPB’s Oregon Art Beat.

Subjectively Portland

Yesterday, Becca and I celebrated Subjective with an artist talk and a reception!

Oregon Art Beat, me, and everyone I know

When KC contacted me about featuring my work on Oregon Art Beat, I was thrilled, but my exhilaration was followed immediately by an overwhelming sense of terror.  I was convinced I would be boring.  So I did what any portrait artist would do: I put my subjects in the spotlight!

Subjective is open in Portland…

...but Wednesday is the big day.  Join us for our artist talk and stay for the food and partying!

I ♥ Becca Bernstein!

When I met Becca years ago, I never imagined we would team up.  Now that we are in the midst of touring our collaborative series, I am so glad we did!

The brush makes the painting.

I’ve always been particular about all the different tools I use in my work, but, more than any other brush, the Da Vinci Cosmotop Spin Flat Wash Series 5080 size 60 have changed the look of my paintings.  Finding these brushes was a revelation: they forced me to re-evaluate the way that I put paint on canvas. 

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