Portrait of Nadine Deschene

Technique: Alla Prima, Glazing, indirect painting, wipe out

About this painting: This painting is of Nadine Deschane, a great friend of mine, in one of her beautiful gowns. We happened to cross paths in person at The Portrait Society of America-The art of the portrait conference of 2024 where she was modelling for some of the artists. We both felt like it was a surreal moment, seeing each other in person for the first time since neither of us knew the other was going to be there. I saw her posing for The Future Generation artist Kate Orr, in the same dress depicted in this painting. She calls it her "Queen dress" which one day she wishes to wear around her studio while she paints. I went up to her in one of her breaks, we hugged & chatted. At the end of the night Nadine asked if I would paint her, I instantly said "Yes, I would love to!" The very next day at the hotel we had a painting session from life & a photoshoot. We talked about life, art & everything in between. Nadine is a strong woman, I wanted to capture the energy that I see coming through her eyes in this painting.