A picture to love

THE PORTRAIT

I'm not long back from the Post Office depot.  To join the queue and collect a parcel of course.  Or, to be more accurate, a tube.  Just over a foot in length and about two inches in diameter.  And I both did, and did not, know exactly what was inside.

No, it hadn't been sent by a Herr Schrodinger.  I knew that within was one item, a painting.  And that it was a portrait of Barbara, my wife.  What could not begin to anticipate was who I was going to see in the picture.  The woman I love, or somebody else's vision of her, a person I would hardly recognise?  Would it bring about feelings of joy or concern?  Was it going to be an item to be treasured or denied?  Dorian Grey lingers in the mind.

The portrait hadn't been commissioned.  Nor did it come as a complete surprise.  We have bought a few paintings by Marc, an artist friend in London.  All have been of fish, vivid and full of movement.  He is very talented and imaginative, although so far without the commercial success he deserves.  I've given him a little help with his website, making suggestions on layout, spotting typos and suggesting some alternative phrasing of the text..  

So the last time we were down there he and his wife invited us for dinner.  He showed us some of his latest work - he's moved on from fish to female nudes, not in a pornographic sense, but as objects of beauty.  He also does superb portraits and has undertaken several commissions.  I knew, from seeing many of these works, that he is able to go beyond photographic reality and reflect the character of the subject.  Or at least those aspects of character he considers most striking.

During the meal he made the suggestion that he paint a portrait of Barbara, and before we had much chance to discuss the idea he had his camera out and was taking her from various angles.  The lighting wasn't great, so I did wonder what the results of the exercise might look like.  Anyway, the meal was excellent (we're now using his chilli recipe and several other culinary ideas he gave us), we all had a decent amount of alcohol, and it was a very enjoyable evening.  We left giving little more thought to the portrait idea..

The months passed.  I, we, forgot all about the suggestion, and if it ever came to mind we assumed it was one of those things that get said on the spur of the moment, but never become reality.  Perhaps I was ascribing to Marc my own characteristic of failing to follow through on ideas.  He is obviously made of better stuff.

A couple of weeks ago a mail arrived from Marc saying he'd finished the portrait.  Cue gobsmacked expression from me.  I was busy at the time and thought I'd have the time to reply next day.  Except by then I'd had a text telling me that the portrait had been posted and was on its way to Southport.  Great news, other than the fact that we were in Edinburgh at the time, and for the following ten days.  But he had checked that the post office would hold it for our return and, as today has proved, that was the case.

And so to the grand opening of the tube.  And my first look at a proper portrait of my wife (there should also be a chance to see a painting featuring us both around New Year time, because we are in a fifteen metre mural which was painted in the Tron Kirk during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year).  Schrodinger's portrait.  Would this be the woman I know so well, or an unfamiliar view through the eyes of another?

I need not have worried.  It is looking back at me now from the floor at my feet and it's hard to imagine how it could be any better.  This is the woman I fell in love with, am still in love with.  She is fun, happy, warm and beautiful.  Golden, with the light shining on her hair.  A head and shoulders perspective, she is wearing.... something.  It doesn't matter, because the item of clothing isn't what you see.   I am drawn in to the smile, the eyes, the mouth, the feeling that this is the person I want to be with.  It almost feels as if the artist was in love with her!

Marc has achieved a far better result than I had even hoped for and I may even have to moderate my compliments to him so as not to sound too insincere!  But the more I look the more I am delighted with what may be the best present I've ever received.  This is Barbara seen in a way that a photo could never show (and I've taken many of them over the years).  A Barbara full of personality and life and love.  Marc said he was proud of it and considered it one of his best.  He wasn't just boasting.  

I will, I suspect, return to this as a subject at a later date.  Each glance I take reveals more than I'd seen before and there will be much to write about as I take it in fully.  It is deserving of a proper frame, which may bring out even more in the image.  That will be the next step.

I end by looking down once again at the canvas below me and marvel at the ability of someone to daub on swipes of paint and turn them into something that is both real and imaginary.  That shows both the shape of a person and the spark that makes them who they are.  Thank you Marc.


You can see examples of Marc's work (or commission your own!) on his website.