Portrait Commission

 

I have been commissioned to paint the portraits of all the Greenville University Presidents. I have been working on this project since June, but wasn’t free to share any of them until now. I have 5 of them completed. This is the current president, Suzanne Davis, J.D., MBA, first woman to hold the position. It is 16 x 20 oil on linen canvas.

Suzanne Allison Davis, 16" x 20" Oil on Linen SOLD

Impasto Palette Knife Landscape

 Another small painting, just for fun.  This is the midwestern landscape that I see everyday.  Around here, most of the action is in the sky.  I love the beautiful flatness of the land. 

10"x10" oil on Canvas.  $100

"Reflection"

 I did this portrait because I thought this woman had beautiful hands. I call it “Reflection.” There is beauty that goes beyond the outer shell, but sometimes the outer shell has so much translucence that it shines out from within. She has an inner and outer transparency and beauty.

"Reflection" by Martha Iler, Oil on Canvas, 20" x 24" NFS

"Unbreakable"

 I call this painting "Unbreakable" because it is a portrait of a friend, who despite all of the chaos in her life, she doesn't give up, and just keeps going.  She is very brave.  It was my first portrait in oil. 

"Unbreakable" by Martha Iler, 20" x 24" Oil on Canvas

Impasto "Zinnia"

I started this painting just for fun using my usual brushes, but it just wasn’t working. I don’t usually do flowers, so I figured I would just try something new and crazy and try using my palette knife. It took awhile to get the hang of it, but I thought it turned out quite nicely. I used Rublev’s “Velasquez Medium” to thicken and create the impasto effect.

9" x 12" oil on Canvas board.  $200  SOLD

"Destiny"

 

"Destiny" by Martha Iler 17" x 22" Oil on Canvas  NFS

This work was started just before the pandemic began.  I  wanted to create a narrative portrait that moved beyond just a face to add a story, a question, a tilt in a different direction. An empty bowl holds promise, it is an invitation to be open, it allows us to sit empty for awhile and let ourselves be filled with something new.

"Anguish"

 I created this piece as the pandemic became full blown and we were realizing that the hardest hit people were generally women. I wanted the piece to have the air of a closed restaurant, the "Sorry We're Closed" sign being so very prevalent in the world at that time.  I wanted to show the uncertainty of the future and the despair of mothers who had no work and no way to provide for their children.  

Oil on Canvas. 

20" x 28" x 1.5"

$1500.00

 My finished piece, 24" x 36" oil on canvas.  SOLD. 

There are many pressing dilemma’s in life.  Some of them are self imposed, some come from the outside.  The solitary nature of the last year (2020) due to Covid and so much unrest in the culture around us has caused a rethinking of relationships on many levels.  

What is my responsibility? 

Where am I blind? 

How do I navigate this terrain? 

This piece comes out of the swirling depth of those seemingly unanswerable questions.

 This is the grisaille of my painting "Quandary".  I used burnt sienna to tone my canvas and then raw umber and lead white to paint the grisaille.

"Quandary"

 This is part of another painting that I have done recently.  Just finished it May 2021.  The final painting is 36" x 24"

"The Struggle"

 

I did this painting during Covid.  It was a difficult painting to work on, but since I have finished it, it has had many responses from people.  I love the fact that everyone sees different things in it, depending on their own life experiences.  It has been an interesting journey.