Portraits can be a tricky business to pin down.  Do you just try and paint what's in front of you like you would a bowl of fruit or do you try to capture what's inside the sitter?  You may never get to the essence of the person or what's behind the mask, but you can get an impression.  The moods and attitudes that present themselves to the careful observer can be as changeable as the weather, but if you wait and watch, brush in hand, the rewards are there.  For my recent Celebrate Women! In Honor of Women's History Month at the NAWA Gallery, I created from photo archives expressionistic paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, Martha Graham, Faith Ringgold, Willa Cather, and Louise Nevelson.   

S/he, oil on canvas panel, 16" x 20"

The Woman in Gray, oil on canvas panel, 16" x 20"

The Misfit, oil on canvas panel, 11" x 14"

Regina, oil on canvas frame, 9" x 12"

A Green Day, oil on canvas panel, 16" x 20"

Blue Girl, Oil on canvas frame, 12" x 12"

Morning, oil on canvas panel, 16" x 20"

Ariel, oil on canvas panel, 16" x 20"

Regina in Red, oil on canvas panel, 16" x 20"