My portrait series is called Small Stories. The portraits are painted on rough surface plywood sheets using oil stick as the medium. The series is based on faces that have a particular meaning to me and that I also feel very passionate about. They are mostly unknown people that have lived a life and have a story to tell. My sources are from life, photos, obituaries as well as from my memory. From the old man sitting in front of his house in a small town in the south of France to the Russian nuclear scientist found in a local obituary column. The sources are merely starting points. I'm not interested in an exact likeness. I'm interested in preserving the small stories of these people through my style and concept. One aspect of portraiture is to immortalize the subject. Usually someone of importance, but not always. The portrait hangs in a museum and the viewer takes in the information. In some respects this is a passive process. I also wish to immortalize my subjects, but in a more interactive manner. By destroying the portrait. I believe it is in the imagination of one's mind that the subject in the portrait achieves true immortality. My concept involves placing each of my paintings inside it's own sealed glass case that is filled with a solvent. The solvent will dissolve the wood based portrait over a controlled period of time ranging from a week to a month. As the viewer observes the disintegrating portrait they will be listening to a specific piece of music that is expressive of the subject. The music can be heard through attached headphones. In addition, the viewer will smell a specific scent reminiscent of the subject that will be placed in a box attached to the glass case. Perfume or dirt from their home town, for example. As the physical portrait disintegrates the viewer is left only with the sensations of sound, scent, and the fading image. The viewer is no longer dependent on the visual representation of the portrait, but the story they have created about the subject in their mind helped along by the auditory and olfactory cues. There is also the knowledge that the viewer can never go back to remind themselves of the subject. This way the stories of these subjects can live on and have impact and meaning long after they're gone. My art education has been a combination of art classes since the age of 11 and private study with Boston School painter Robert Cormier at the Fenway Studios. Mr. Cormier's method of teaching is based on the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. The Small Stories series has not been exhibited. You may contact me directly at my e-mail address regarding sales as well as more information about my paintings.