Dr. Terry Sherer

Terry's finished!

I think there are around 200 books in this painting, but I'm not sure.  I stopped counting at around 135, and that was when I was nowhere near being done.  Each of the seven shelves took at least a day to paint, not counting the knicknacks or the wooden parts (I didn't want to write "the shelves themselves").  Terry's books are more organized than most, but not maniacally so.  Papers and magazines lie across some of the books. One shelf is devoted to new concepts in education while another boasts at least ten philosophy titles, but the majority of Terry's books here are novels.  I enjoyed painting Penguin's logo over and over again along with some of the more artistic spines, such as Underworld by Don DeLillo.  Believe me, what you see here is the tip of Terry's literary iceberg.  Two more bookcases line the unseen wall to the right of the painting, and books dominate nearly every other room of his beautiful home. 

Fun extras in this painting included three candles, a rock painted to resemble a ladybug, two framed photos including one of a gleeful Terry with some kind of cigarette girl, a (Medieval?) tapestry chunk featuring rabbits, a Culver-Stockton pennant (Terry is a professor there), and a t-shirt saying VOTE with a near-subliminal OBAMA beneath it.  I placed Terry's vigilant cat Truman beside him. 

Jeff and I took reference photos of Terry during the height of summer, and in the original photos Terry wore shorts and was barefoot.  I told him I could eventually fake some khakis and shoes, and I managed to get a shot of Terry's loafers sitting near the front door before we left.  Later at home I got a be-khakied Jeff to mimic Terry's pose so I could get a better idea of the wrinkles, so really what you see here are Jeff's legs adapted to fit Terry.  It's all about your comfort when you ask me to paint you--I guess that's what I'm trying to say here.

I'd like to thank Terry for giving me the opportunity to paint him.  I've been having a couple of stressful weeks healthwise, which I'll blog about tomorrow, and it was comforting to lose myself in the difficult work of this painting of my good friend. 

You can see some of the earlier incarnations of this painting and more information about Terry here and here.

Comments

[JimRhino]

Again...pretty awesome!

[Hechanova]

Incredible piece. I'm curious though: what's Terry reading? Did he specifically request to be reading that book in the painting, or was it just whatever he was reading at the time? I feel like whenever someone's portrayed holding a specific object it's supposed to hold some great significance, but I also have the tendency to read too much into things.

Again, great work!

[Melinda]

I just *knew* that link for "most" would reveal the many-spined, multicolored chaos that overruns my bookshelves! I'll have you know, missy: we're bohemians at my house, not librarians!

[Kelly]

Hechanova, the book he's reading is called Notes from No Man's Land by Eula Biss. It's a collection of essays about race relations, I think. You can see the details a lot more clearly (and hugely) if you click on the picture. That book was sitting on the dining room table along with other books and papers, and he picked it up. He didn't seem to give it much thought, so I asked him if he wanted that to be the "main book" of the painting and he was happy with it. :)

Melinda, your girl and your/her books are superstars, and you know it. As I type this Mabel is being hung at the Marietta-Cobb Museum of Art in Atlanta! :D

[Melinda]

Know this I do. I'm very proud that the Littlest Bohemian is representing in Atlanta. We're planning a trip with Mabel's Auntie Rose to see cousin Owen in Chicago, by the way.

[Mary Gardner]

I love this painting Kelly!
Terry's expression is so like him and the details of the books and bookcases makes me feel as if I'm in the room visiting - or reading, too.