This will take you on a journey of the Ubell Family, as well as my personal process in painting it. The very first step is a meeting. Most of my meetings/interviews take place over the phone, but Ms Ubell resides locally, so we were able to meet in person. It was wonderful  seeing her home, asking questions about my subjects' life, experiencing their living space first hand...and analyzing what I would like to include in her “Family Story Portrait”

Ms Ubell's son Ben is a Poet and Musician so I asked her to send me some of his poems, (I included one that we both decided on in the portrait) and I also used a photo of him playing the guitar. Her other son is a Dancer, so there are images of him dancing in the trees and a childhood one from his performance in The Nutcracker. I noticed the magnificent view from the living room window so I photographed the view from her window at Christmas. I used it for the background of the painting. I also took childhood photos of Ms Ubell, and surprised her by using them as the "little girl" with the images of the boys as children.

 

Each Family Story Portrait is different, and my imagery, color, layout and creativity come from their personal stories.

 

My Family Story Portraits paintings are a permanent memento of your personal journeys through life.