New Portrait - 'Unrest'

This is the portrait that I referred to in an earlier blog.

I've been working on this portrait 'Unrest' for quite a while. It's not a happy painting for the wall, but one that I painted this way because the young girl in the painting had been in a car accident and is still suffering pain almost two years after.

She was unable to work and was short of funds, plus she was suffering depression because she had no idea when, or even if, she'd ever get better.


'Unrest'
Susan Abma
24 x 16"
Oil on Canvas

Enlarging it shows how the background is wild and loose because it represents all the turmoil coming at her from every direction.

I felt her pain so deeply in the first few sittings that it made it almost impossible to continue. Now, though, upon completion, I know that this painting has helped her deal with some of her intense feelings, and for that I am thankful and relieved.

What a blessing it would be if she heals very soon and the only pain she feels is trapped right here on the weave of this canvas.

I will be going back to painting the still life series now, and I will share more of those paintings with you very soon.