Don't be a Hero, Papa !

In April 2014, my daughter Ilara told me in plaintive tones, "Don't be a hero, Papa. Forget about 'setting a World's Record'  for longest kidney transplant! Just get started with dialysis soon, before you have a stroke or worse with all the toxins in your blood! I don't want to lose you! Promise me you will not wait much longer. Promise!"

A Work-in-Progress... my beautiful daughter Ilara comes to life on my easel.

This heart-felt appeal, voiced with such urgency and poignancy... was a big part in my decision to agree with my doctor's equally urgent admonition.

Of course my wife Sharon had a lot to say about it... really, we KNEW the time was near, so we undertook to travel between Saskatchewan and my home province of Nova Scotia. It is 4287 kilometers each way, and we drove the distance TWICE each way in 2012 and 2013! In rough figures, that was 17,148 kms of driving all told.

Of course I DID return to thrice-weekly dialysis treatments, or else I would be long-gone.

Dialysis: Do or DIE!

There is a saying, "Dialysis: Do or Die!"

It is with all of this and more in mind as I proceed through each day... and week, and month.

I have no time or desire for a 'pity party". At all.

I will keep on writing and painting, loving and caring about the heaped-on blessings of LIFE and a LIFE WELL-LIVED.

It is a with a deep well of GRATITUDE for my energy levels that allow me to stay HAPPY and PRODUCTIVE.

About the Artist/ Author

Please visit www.mrgaudet.com to read more about Michael, his artwork and writing projects.

Painting a Witchy Woman

Portrait painting is by far the most challenging genre, in my opinion.

When painting a landscape, who would ever know if a tree looks "right"? My point being, the other genres are, in most cases, more forgiving and plastic. Portraiture on the other hand must exhibit a certain precision, finesse and a convincing "realism" that cannot be faked or fudged.

Now, I'm referring to the realistic portrait here. I make it a point to push beyond mere realism to drill into the "feeling" or "spirit" of the model. For me, while it is challenging to evoke the physical resemblance of my model, it is even more so to tease out the personality...so that when you enter a room with the painting, there is a sense of the person there with you.

I decided to post some of the pivotal steps that were taken to create this portrait, but by no means the fourteen or so distinct steps aka "glazes" that I would usually paint.

Instead of presenting what could be perceived as a "how-to" guide to portrait painting, with this post I will plunge ahead with highlights, both to save myself time and also, to alleviate the delayed gratification that comes along with too much information.

I was assured by the subject that she was very pleased, excited in fact, with the work-in-progress. I appreciated this, as it is not always easy to tell, from my somewhat myopic view of the canvas on my easel, how it really looked.

The above photo shows the portrait very close to completion. I instinctively feel that it still needs to be pushed, pulled and massaged a bit more before I will be completely satisfied. In this case, I was asked to include the subject's "spirit animals", her astrological sign and an amethyst element. You can see these aspects coming out of the dark spaces, invented and incorporated into the overall composition.

This is a portrait-painting encounter of the fourth kind...working and re-working the paints to elicit the old soul of my dear friend...who self-identifies as a Wicca Spirit and is a practicing white witch and light-worker. It was the least I could do, after our magical healing sessions. I still tingle just thinking about it.