GALLERY MISCELLANEA

A mysterious trend in celebrity portraiture began 4-5 years ago.  Suddenly magazine covers everywhere were showing all the well-known Hollywood faces hiding one eye.   Did the 'stars' all decide to do this on their own, or was a higher voice directing The New Trend?   And what is the message? 

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Here are three portraits; I painted well before the One Eye Trend took hold.  In the mid eighties, another artist I knew, John Swenson, had portrayed his girlfriend holding a pistol and showing only half-face from behind a curtain.  I liked the composition and decided to paint the 'Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful' star, by half.  If asked why I painted only the left side of her face, my tongue-n-cheek answer was, 'Kelly Le Brock is so beautiful, you probably couldn't stand the whole picture'.  I soon discovered that by framing her left side in a corner with the proper size mirror at right angles, her complete semblance could be resolved.   An art collector who also liked the mirror effect, commissioned another portrait of the same size, this time with a blonde model.  I named the painting Madonna but the model used for reference was a look-alike.  'Madonna' was done in 2003 and she, with Kelly were hung in the collectors town home flanking an entrance foyer where the illusion could be enjoyed X2.

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The last of the three was a canvas drop of Troy; painted from a reference photo in 2007...still several years before the onslaught of the One Eye trend.