I am very pleased to have received my first Professional Development Grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council. This grant made it possible to attend a two-week portrait painting workshop at New York’s School of Visual Arts, taught by master portrait artist Marvin Mattelson , in August 2011. The class, titled “Classical Realism: Portrait Painting in Oil”, also included a trip to the Metropolitan Museum, where Mattelson critiqued over two dozen paintings, explaining how the artists achieved their life-like portraits. Above is my partially finished class portrait, done from life, over a period of four days. I have since finished several new paintings that incorporate the new color palette and information I learned during the workshop. Click the following links to view my newest works: Recent Work