Remember class photos? I need your help... (Patreon)

Hello lovely folks.

It is SWELTERING hot in the studio these days. My heat-addled brain has been coming up with some strange ideas. One of my personal favourites has been the Self-Portrait Stack. I was looking at my bookshelf, which has been much edited in recent years. The books that I keep now are because of some special significance. They matter because of what’s in them, who gave them to me, or the time and circumstance I was in when I read them.

That said, they are still objects and I lend them and lose them and wear them out and give them away. So I wanted to find a way to “keep” the books that matter. Making this painting tuned out to be an excellent way to do that, and it also made me realize that there’s a reason I love reading other peoples’ bookshelves. You can learn a lot from someone’s stack of most-meaningfuls. More, I’d argue, than from a realistic painting of their face. So I starting to think of this painting as a self portrait- one that tells you more about me than my face ever could.

SO. I’d like to make a portrait of sorts - a group portrait in fact - of this lovely community. To do this, I’m going to need your help. At some point, over the course of July, I’d like you to let me know what “book” you’d be in a stack. Now. What I’m asking is COLLOSALLY difficult - like choosing a favourite child!! But I’d like you to try. If you give me more than one choice, I reserve the right to pick one at random for the stack painting. If you have an image of the spine of the book send it my way. I changed the dimensions and colours on these book spines for aesthetics so it doesn’t need to be a perfect photo. You can comment here, email me, put it in the community tab, or tap my shoulder on social media - whatever you like.

The end result is going to be a group portrait of this lovely little community, a “stack” that reflects YOU beautiful patrons which is something I’m so keen to do. I happen to think you’re all gorgeous so let’s make a little something together shall we?

Be well,

B