Justice

Pre-Raphaelite Amanda came to the studio this afternoon and we spent a delightful time taking pictures of her as Justice. She was a wonderful model! We borrowed a robe from the University chapel for her costume; I thought Justice should be quite formal. The white robe caused us some tricky lighting issues, but nothing too major. 

I know I promised painting today, but there was no way I could find the time to get started between the morning meeting of the Art Department and shooting photos. I got to capture images of Amanda as a muse in the seven virtues painting, and again as a simple allegory of love, tenderly holding a rose. It’s a bit sentimental, but I’m okay with that.

One day I’d like to do my own versions of the classic Pre-Raphaelite paintings, Millais’ Ophelia and Waterhouse’s Lady of Shallot, which were among my first loves as a young man looking at paintings. My father took me to the Tate on a visit to London when I was a child, then I saw the Homer when we visited Washington during a trip to visit our American cousins. It was wonderful to revisit the Tate National this summer and admire the collection of gorgeous Pre-Raphaelite paintings, especially Burne-Jones’ huge The Sleep of King Arthur in Avalon, which inspires me to make a really huge canvas.