Missing 15

Henry

Five foot two, eyes of
brown, last seen wearing dark green.
Black hat, also gone.

Falling farther off
course, a bottomless journey
that threatens to stay.

Questions posed as clues.
Perhaps a tender heart worn
yearning at the edge.

It’s been almost a year since I’ve done one of these portraits.  I’m still getting Silver Alerts in my inbox on a regular basis though.

The poem uses words from the Alert for Henry, as well as the Secret Keeper’s words this week
CLUE – COURSE – TENDER – THREAT – POSE

You can see the entire Missing series here.

Missing 14

Aida

This is another series I haven’t visited in quite awhile.  I still get Silver Alerts from Notify NYC in my email box, and I always look at the photos and text.  As I said in my original post, the photos are almost always unprofessional and often very poor quality.  We are busy documenting ourselves, our children, our friends, but the elderly among us, even those we love, often remain unseen.

And they go missing, although my research indicated that usually they are also found fairly quickly.

I had a long and vivid dream about my grandmother the other night.  Something about Aida reminded me of her.

You can see the entire Missing series here.

Missing 13

Hermon

I was in midtown the other day near the Morgan Museum, so I stopped by to look at the portrait drawing exhibit.  I didn’t write any information down when I was there, but a lot of the drawings that I think were Renaissance-era were done on tinted paper (blue was evidently popular for a number of years) with black, white, and red.  I decided to use the same technique for this portrait, although I used reddish brown rather than red.

Looking back, my previous “Missing” portrait also uses this technique (combined with a few other colors), but when I was drawing Hermon I was much more aware of the role each color played, especially the white as a highlighter.

Hermon has so much warmth in his smile; I hope he is well and no longer among the missing.

You can see the rest of the series here:  https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/category/missing/

And the Morgan Museum, though its exhibit spaces are small, is always worth a visit.  They also currently have an “Alice in Wonderland” room that is fun, photography, and some oil landscape studies on paper to see.
http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/current

Missing 12

Adrien

I haven’t done any of these in awhile, but I’m still getting regular Silver Alerts.  Luckily, as I found in my research, most of the missing elders are found and returned home.

You can see the rest of the series here:  https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/category/missing/

Missing 11

Dominico

You can see the rest of the series here:
https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/category/missing/

Missing 10

 

Janet

The grainy and evocative photo lends itself to many interpretations.  At the center: the haunted eyes.

You can see the rest of the series here:
https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/category/missing/

Missing 9

William

You can see the rest of the series here:

https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/category/missing/

Missing 8

Whitfield

You can see the rest of the series here:

https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/category/missing/

Missing 7

Valentina

The first thing that grabbed me about Valentina was her piercing blue-grey eyes.  She seems formidable, even within the restrictions of old age.

The second drawing I did bears more of a physical resemblance, but the first one captures more of her spirit to me.

The painting is an experiment–it doesn’t look like her at all, but I think it has its charms.  I haven’t been painting much lately; I’m hoping for a more regular work schedule to settle in the next few weeks and give me the time and psychic space to get back to it.

You can see the rest of the series here:  https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/category/missing/

Missing 6

Mary

You can see the rest of the series here:  https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/category/missing/