So here is a new work, one born of necessity. ..the necessity arose from having to pay rent between semesters sans a paycheck.  It started with a conversation wherein I sort of hinted at the barter and then when my landlady found herself in need of a gift for her mother, she remembered that conversation.

I asked for a photograph so I could get started and she obliged with this one:

If you look closely, you might note that this drafting table doubles as a sewing table, but also perhaps something about my process which involves using the grid technique.  In this next photo, you can see the sketch done with an olive gray wash:

And here is the finished portrait:

Tess Farnham, Untitled Portrait, 16x20 acrylic on canvas