This commissioned portrait of Malina and Nasser was finished some time ago, but it took awhile to find its way home to them.

I love the warmth and connection that is evident between them in the photograph that I worked from taken by their friend Sammy Elrafih. The warm colour palette contributed to the feeling.

Portraits of people in profile like this painting (as well as Becca, Ozzy, and Devin from last year) seem so comfortable. Instead of posing “towards us,” they’re relating to each other. We’re the observers.

I once did a self-portrait in profile, “Between Us,” which was really intriguing to work on. I set up two mirrors to work from. This article describes the process effectively.

Malina and Nasser were very happy with the commissioned portrait. Nasser said, “The portrait is beautiful, vibrant, calming, jaw dropping and most of all unique. Thank you thank you thank you.”