Nostalgia

Catherine Scott
acrylic on canvas
24 x 36 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009

Frequently I've heard debates about whether nostalgia has a
place in art. In my experience, it plays a big role in portrait
painting. People who think about the possible longevity of
their painting want to know that some favorite object or
piece of jewelry is in the painting, so that at least for the
moment they will be "known." When I was taking English
Literature we studied the iconography of the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries. Renaissance paintings were thick with symbols
that were associated with religious belief, purity, evil,
saintliness. But paintings of people today are not that
different.

Detail from the portrait of
Catherine Scott showing her favorite earrings

Not being a high realist, I worry a bit when people want
a tiny ring, or thin bracelet depicted accurately. In my
style of work that ring might just be a flash of light -- from
any distance at all -- say the distance from me at my easel
to you sitting for me -- the details of that meaningful
object might be blurred -- lost. But that isn't even the point.
The point is that the sitter knows her mother's ring,
his father's watch, the tie a boy was given to wear when
he graduated is there, however loosely depicted.

Detail from the portrait of Catherine Scott
showing a favoite bracelet and her
mother's ring

I have included my animals in paintings whenever
possible. This gives my heart a lurch when the animal
dies -- but you know what -- it's a joyous thing too --
because there is that personality captured in gesture
and love, in a way a photo in it's perfect, accurate
detail can't convey.

Have an enjoying-the-benefits-of-nostalgia day.