In 2022, I had the honor of attending an artist’s workshop at the Whidbey Island Fine Art Center, studying under internationally acclaimed and award winning artist, Aleah Chapin. Aleah’s specialty is realism and she renders the most astonishingly beautiful - sometimes surprising - portraits of women. Women who are in the prime of their lives. Having raised or are still raising their children. Some of them breast cancer survivors. Some of them showing the wear of time and gravity. Maybe not images everyone can get comfortable with, but all gloriously beautiful and very real. Important reminders of what a woman looks like when not presented through the brushed lens of a fashion magazine. What follows here is one of three ‘from life’ studies I painted under her guidance. The models were anonymous to the class, and we were grateful for and humbled by their generosity and courage.

12 inches x 12 inches

oil on canvas lined ACM

2022

*unframed