THE PORTRAIT

'Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter'.

Oscar Wilde

Initially as part of my professional practice I looked at combining the traditional with the contemporary - looking at the Graphic Artist - Miss Bugs, the Fine Artist - Peter McGrath and the Art Gallery - the Cube. Unfortunately these parallels in direction did not combine as i had hoped; with the Cube closing its Bristol premises to concentrate on the London Gallery and Peter McGrath, the fine artist, wishing to focus on his forthcoming exhibition at the Cube (see above). Alongside this I was made redundant (boo hoo). Therefore, my dear friend offered to paint me in return for Photoshop tuition and I decided to concentrate on Miss Bugs alone.

Peter McGrath is a traditional fine art 'painter'. He avoids the term 'artist' as he is too humble to believe anyone would see him as such. His work is beautiful, reflecting a skill and ability to capture a likeness, light and texture on canvas. Peter strives to emulate the old masters, with inspiration ranging from Rembrandt, Raphael and Titian to Manet and Breugel. Peter is very conventional in his approach to the media, using both Oil and Acrylic paint, although is attempting to use more digital influences within his work. His photographic work particularly. http://www.petermcgrath.co.uk

Pontificating, procrastinating, reworking, reinventing whilst painting. He stands gladiatorial, like a grizzled Roman centurion, paintbrush in hand about to strike the canvas a deadly blow.

I found it extremely difficult to sit still for long periods of time and it was very uncomfortable to be scrutinised by another human being whilst sitting motionless with only a table as my shield.

The series of 10 or so portrait paintings shown here are my attempt to document this portrait process, producing a sequence of images which describe the work in progress; after five months my portrait is still unfinished and ever changing (still being revisited from memory and direct observation).

As you can see, my face changed with each brushstroke. The artist attempts to capture a likeness and paint light onto the canvas - this light altered the structure of my face and the emotion displayed within seconds. Vulnerable and uncomfortable are adjectives to describe this experience. It is as if my portrait appears as an amalgam of all the female sitters who've gone before. I will be immortalised in a unique way unlike a photograph. It is rather like watching a distant memory made flesh - fuzzy and vague in some places, but also recognisable clarity in others. This is easy to see with these images in book form - highlighting the idea of 'a sequence'. I have called this mini book - The Black Madonna (an ironic title since I am not a virgin or black).

As Dali said " I do not paint a portrait to look like the subject, rather does the person grow to look like his portrait'.