Alexandre Tache
Commissions come in clumps, feast or famine. This one is my latest. I was asked to paint a historical portrait on Bishop Alexandre Taché as a gift to a newly opened school bearing his name. I love challenges. I was neither certain where to begin nor when I was going to take the time as I was teaching in two different schools as artist in residence and leaving for a week to San Francisco. God provides. I decided to accompany my husband (a school trustee) to the opening of the school and was totally delighted with the keynote speaker, Père Bélanger, who provided me with all the historical data I required. I asked him for a copy of his speech, visited the archives for photo references and set to work. Mixed media is such fun! I tore out the tree shapes from tissue paper, transferred a sketch of Père Lacombe and adjusted everything with watercolour pencil. I prefer oils for portraiture and proceeded to render a full colour likeness from a black and white reference. Challenges: the spice of life! There was something not quite right about the final image. I could not identify it so I took it with me to my regular mastermind meeting for critiquing. The eyes of others are so clear. One less tree clump and voilà! I love masterminding almost as much as I love mixed media….
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