Words on a Portrait - "Elis"

Elis Wooton is a student at NYU Wagner. She is a goofy girl, with a lot of brains and a spunky personality. When I first saw her photo, I told Matt he absolutely HAD to paint it. I think it is my favorite one even to this day. It just reminds me of those special moments when you are hanging out with friends on a weekend, enjoying life. I smile and laugh every time I see it, and that to me adds so much more to the experience of being with her portrait.

Here is what Elis had to say about being involved in the project and the story behind the photo:

"I think it is a really interesting idea to further connect people through fine art on a virtual social network.... creating a community where there was not one before. I think it could be a really great show ... all the portraits in a gallery space. I think the fact that over 3,000 people have joined the group so far is a testament how rad the project is and how everyone secretly wants to be immortalized in one way or another.

I don't really want to wax on about what I think it 'means' though... I'm sure that [people] advocate for what it means in an artistic sense. I am no art critic but I love my portrait.

I'm not going to lie... when I saw my name on the short list for portraits people would want on their walls I was pretty stoked...

The picture was taken in Costa Rica when I was snorkeling with a couple of my best lady friends. We all took silly pictures of each other with our masks on. I just happened to use mine as my profile picture..."