I have done a lot of paintings of my grandchildren. They have given me many occasions to see a good composition. I refer to these as genre paintings. There came a point where I wanted and needed to do some smaller works. That is about the time I decided to do a formal head and shoulders of each of them. I did Ryan about the time he was a senior and Caiti after graduation, but I have tried to do the younger kids at twelve. They grow up so fast.

Let’s see if I can add text to this. There is a nationally famous artist named Nelson Shanks, now deceased. An artist I know who lived in New York, was on the board of Allied Artists of NY and worked with this man daily, even jurying shows with him. My friend paid me the highest compliment by telling me he believed N. Shanks would have given this painting high ratings. Wow, that is a fantastic compliment.