Words on a Portrait - "Angie"

Everyone loves a cute girl in a monster costume. There was no question about painting Angie. She lives in Denver with our good friend Jason (aka Sharpie nose) and it's no surprise that she is super cute and super smart. I met her once when they came to visit a couple years ago. I think the funniest thing about the painting is that "don't fuck with me" look. She is such a graceful, calming presence that looking at her painting makes me wonder how much more to her there is that most people probably don't see.
She was kind enough to send us the story of the photo and some of her thoughts on the project and here are her words:

"When this picture was taken I was at an art opening for the Horndribbles—soft sculpture art by a couple of Denver artists. There was a guy walking around in an amazing Horndribble costume and I asked if I could try on the head. Normally I feel so awkward in photographs (and it shows) but somehow having that big, fuzzy monster head on made me relax enough for the photo to turn out well and become a picture of myself I actually like.

I feel really honored to have been part of the project. I never thought I'd have an opportunity to have my portrait painted and to have it done from a photograph that I love and makes me laugh has made the experience even better. I think of portraiture traditionally as art of the upper class and while I've seen beautiful portraits, I tend to think of them as serious and stuffy. In contrast, the portraits of the project are not only wonderful in an artistic sense, they are also so unexpected. Because they are done from photos they seem almost the opposite of traditional portraits—a lot of them portray things that you couldn't pose for, moments that only a camera could capture. That they were moments captured in a photo and then again in paint makes them all the more whimsical. It would be amazing to see all the portraits in person, all together in one space, and to be able to ask the subjects what they were trying to express about themselves by posting that particular photo to Facebook for the world to see."