Artist Statement

"Whitney" by Anthony Hedrick 

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I am infatuated by the portrait and figure. Over the years my international ministry has allowed me the opportunity to paint or draw faces from at least fifty nations. I suppose, if I had a muse, it might be Whitney since I have drawn or painted her ten times or more. Of course, when I say “muse” I mean in the right sense of the word, an inspiration, not some gorgeous female in a slinky dress sipping on a glass of red wine. I am convinced that a real compelling portrait consists of perhaps 70% the skill of the artist and 30% the intrigue of the model. Whitney gets a lot of credit for never being affected or staged. She can take on any persona without coming off as wooden.

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"Reminiscing" by Anthony Hedrick

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I suppose you’d have to call me an Impressionist of one kind or another. I fail to fit into any other category well. Yet, I am more of an Impressionist in the vein of Edgar Degas than any of the others I can think of. It’s not the light or the color that I’m intrigued by as so many in that school were, but rather, I am out to capture the “real life” moment as Degas did. It has been said that he painted what he could see through a keyhole and when given to opportunity, so do I. Here was that Kodak moment. My friends, the Tarasevich sisters are Russians. Dina lives in Canada and Taya lives in Michigan. In this LED lit commercial coffee shop, they were just overjoyed to see one another and catch up. It’s real life - as real as rehearsing for a ballet or crawling out of the bath.

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