This portrait is more than a face: it also contains compositional elements drawn from stories which Michèle told me during the course of our interview. 

I don’t always work these kinds of elements into my paintings, but when I do I find it both challenging and rewarding.  I first experimented with this sort of painting in 2006 and came out with a series of it in 2007, but I don’t think I fully embraced it until I created my half of this diptych in 2009.

To learn more about the making of this painting, watch this vlog.