Link to
Girl from Manchester City
at The Temple
Anatomy of a Portrait
Journal excerpts from:
March 12th ....Nice conversation with the girl in the smoke shop on Davie. Told
her about the art work, & she said she was interested in seeing some of it. Would be
nice to do a portrait.....
April 5th .....Had a nice chat with the girl at the smoke shop. Seems to be a trace
of an accent in some of her speech. Would love to do a portrait of her...
April 16th ....This afternoon showed girl at the smoke shop some of the art, including
'Karl Marx'. Totally impressed with her reaction to the work. A 10 for sure! Ended up
giving her the 'Amex' photo. Her name is Fran, originally from Manchester, UK. Looking
forward to showing her more work next week....
April 30th ....Dropped in on the smoke shop & showed Fran a variety of work including
'Pulling the Plug', 'Meltdown', 'Our Precious Science' & a number of portraits. Totally
impressed with her perception & intellect. Gave her the print of the 'Artists of America',
& I suggested I should do a portrait of her. She agreed right away, saying, 'I could make it
work....
May 1st ....Swung by smoke shop again. Fran gave me her number & I suggested we
get together on Sunday to take photos for the portrait. She looked great, with a red
flower in her hair.
Text Messages:
May 3rd Hi Fran, it's Richard. Wondering if u can still make it for tomorrow? We
could meet at Subway on davie next to numbers. At 1 or 1:30, or whatever time
works for u. Hope ur weekend's going well
[Absolutely! I don't work tomorrow :D I cannot wait! Do you prefer 1:30? Anytime
works for me]
Hi Fran, 1:30 would be great. If u need to change the time just let me know. Talk
to you tomorrow!
[That's perfect, see u tom @ subway 1:30, have a lovely evening]
May 5th The shots turned out fantastic. wow! It's gonna be hard to choose one as
being 'best'. keep u posted
thanks again for letting me photograph u
[I am so excited! Thank you for letting me model, im so lucky & honoured to work
with your amazing talent :D]
May 7th Just finished second day on your portrait. The outline is coming along
beautifully. If i had to use one word to describe u in it, it would be striking
:-0 and your eyes are very cool too! Anyway, should be finished in 7 or 8 days.
Hope ur having a good week!
[Wow i cannot wait to see it, i love striking :D this is like waiting to open a
present, the anticipation is awesome! I am having a great week & hope you are too :D]
May 12th Hi Fran, hope u had a lovely weekend! Your portrait is sailing along
nicely. Drawing your eyes this morning. Which sort of makes the drawing come
alive. Should be done thurs or friday
Man City wins the title! Awesome!
[Richard you are amazing, i am so excited! Man city won & my Mother said it made her
mother's day :D sending you zen vibes]
May 14th The zen vibes u sent worked to perfection! It's like the portrait's
come alive the last two days. Might finish tomorrow, friday for sure. Would love for u
to see it this weekend. Text u the minute it's finished
[Im so excited ;D i start work @ 1pm on saturday if you like i can come before work?
Cant wait!]
May 16th Finished off the last bit of work on your portrait. Kinda hoping u like
it cause i would luv u to be in my future art. Have a great evening & talk to u
tomorrow!
May 18th [I am still awestruck after seeing Your utterly amazing work, you are
so very very talented :D]
Luv your intellect & i luv your style! Can hardly wait to start the next portrait!
Journal excerpts from :
4th (Sunday)
Met Fran at Subway. Showed her more of the artwork & gave her 6
or 7 prints. Photographed her in the lane behind, as the rain poured
down. She looked STRIKING! Special woman, for sure
5th (Monday)
A nice exchange of texts with Fran. Sorting out ideas for the portrait
6th (Tuesday) [Girl from Manchester City]
Text from Myle, 'Got up at 8am & went for a run for an hr!!!'
11th (Sunday) [Girl from Manchester City]
Reanne describing a dream she had, with a long shadow that turned into
a cobra & coiled around her forearm. She shook it off & it turned back
into a shadow. Told me she wants to work that image into her other
dream work. A lovely day of perfect warmth & coolness. Nice to see
Kaymer win the Players
15th (Thursday) [Girl from Manchester City]
Dropped in on Fran at the Smoke Shop, with dark chocolate. Was dressed
in a style she called her 'Mickey Mouse' gear, with a red bow in her
hair. Which I'm thinking would be a good portrait. She is the best
hugger. Hanging out with Eve this afternoon, from Robson Market
to Granville, where we had an all day breakfast at some cool old diner
Then back to Denman, with stops at the pet store, Ayoubs, & a corner
grocery for flowers. High, thin overcast. Quite muggy
16th (Friday) [Girl from Manchester City]
Overcast, dry
17th (Saturday) [Girl from Manchester City]
Just after noon met Fran at Subway. Came over to see the portrait
She is totally SPECIAL and her favourite filmaker... Woody Allen!
