To me it is always fun to see different sides of a personality in a portrait. We so often see a stayed regal pose of a person that portrays their professional alter ego. Because I love portraits and like to create little escapes from a hectic life myself, I decided to paint a person's alter ego at play.

I asked people what they liked to do for fun. And when I listened to their responses this is how I envisioned them at play.

Monkey-Do  - Oil on canvas

Professional ego: Project manager

Play Ego: Inserts monkeys everywhere she can 

Flirt - Oil on canvas

Professional ego: Clothing store owner
Play ego: Flirts with everyone

Applause - Oil on canvas

Professional ego: Hotel concierge
Play ego: Acts in community plays

Bat Fatale- Oil on canvas

Professional ego: Postmaster
Play ego: Dress as her icon

On The Mark - Oil on canvas

Professional ego: Medical Technician 
Play ego: Shoot moving targets

Create - O - Matic - Oil on canvas

Professional ego: Boat rental co. owner
Play ego: Rebuild cars  

Advancing Youth - Oil on canvas

Professional ego:Waste plant office management

Play ego: Astonish people

Fade to Gray - Oil on canvas

Professional ego: Real Estate Agent 
Play ego: Artist 

                                        

 

                                                      Close-up of Torment

Torment  - Oil on canvas.  the sublime is more than beauty. It is the result of an emotional response, to the passion of fear. It is often represented by vastness and magnificence but can be shown in the strongest emotion.  It has been purposed by Edmund Burke that "terror is the source of the sublime."  In this one can infer that when the momentary euphoria settles in, there is profound sense of contentment that we are not the ones experiencing the terror, then gives us pleasure.

 

                                                            Close-up of Emasculated

 Emasculated - Oil on unstretched canvas.  Some emotions are more subtle but just a powerful.  The deceptive calmness gives way to emotion. We have a drive to control our basic emotions by not expressing them.  If we do we appear weak, emasculated.  For some this type of art may be uncomfortable to view because it reminds them of a perceived weakness.

 Bed of Diversion - Oil on canvas. This work is part of a series depicting mental escape.  How often have I been near a river just looking into its depths contemplating nothing…I cannot say.  To be able to relax and enjoy the moment makes me feel refreshed and ready, when I awake from my reverie for whatever may come next in life.  I'm intrigued with this idea of mental escape because so many of us spend many hours each day trying to do just that. Whether it is by watching TV or participating in extreme sports we all have some way of finding our escape. This is one in my series of three which holds different content than more recent paintings.  In an attempt to hold on to that moment, I have painted a shallow river that shows rocks just underneath the glistening surface and fresh water swirling around.  I painted the water with an abstract quality that allows me to get lost in the undulating movement of color and into my escape.

 

 Distant Earth Afternoon, oil on canvas 

Distant Earth Evening, oil on canvas.

 

Realization, oil on canvas. 

 

Trapped, oil on canvas.