CREATING A LIFE CYCLE PORTRAIT

WORKING WITH CLIENTS
Working with a client on a Life Cycle Portrait is a collaborative adventure. I begin by asking the questions:  What is important and meaningful to you?  What events and experiences helped to make you who you are?

The level of self-examination sometimes surprises clients.  But this planning session is also a fun way to review the events of one's life and determine which images, events, and symbols are the most significant.

When the portrait is a gift, the client and I work together to select the images that best tell the story of the subject's life (a Bar/Bat Mitzvah child, a spouse, a friend).  A Life Cycle Portrait is a meaningful way to honor someone special in your life.

These detailed conversations inform the finished painting in many ways.  In the painting for the Diamonds, we looked for symbolic images to include.  His huge shoes and her tiny ones are a funny design element.  Also, he proved that on a dare, he could successfully complete the NYC marathon, even though he had just taken up running that year.  For the Kudish portrait, created to commemorate their 50th anniversary, precious family heirlooms were lovingly "smuggled" by their daughter-in-law out of their home for me to photograph.

For my Bar/Bat Mitzvah portraits, I combine images of the child and his or her interests with symbols from the Parshat, or Torah portion.  For example, in the painting of Lilly, the musical notes in the rainbow are the melody of the song that she played during the celebration of her Bat Mitzvah, the flowers are lilies and the fruit tree and fruit symbolized sacrificial gifts from her Torah portion.

A powerful gift of love and appreciation, a Life Cycle Portrait is meaningful gift for many occasions:

--a wonderful way to celebrate someone special in your life

--a heartfelt gift for a major milestone event

--a special way to recognize the accomplishments of an employee or colleague

--ideal for non-profit and editorial illustrations