2026 Art League of Daytona Beach "Figuratively Speaking" Juried Exhibit, Judges Comments:
Most Creative Award: “Smooch” by Robert Shirk
“A touching moment between an elderly couple, handled in a very creative manner. The stippling in paint and done on the reverse side of plexiglass is a complex technique and then allowing it to pixelate into the grey scale adds a modern take to a traditional pointalism technique.” - Judge:
Lisa Russo, MFA, BFA
The Story Of This Painting.
Passion is not just for the young.
The reference for this painting is based on a photo by awarding winning photographer Alan Shapiro. I contacted him when I decided to do this painting and he was gracious enough to allow me to use his photo as reference for this painting.
When I first saw this image of this old couple kissing I'm ashamed to write that the first thing I saw as an artist was their marvelous wrinkles. The depth of those wrinkles would work perfectly with what I was trying to do with my portraiture in 2016.
It wasn't until recently that I decided to try and use that photo as reference for a portrait. Looking at the image now I still see those marvelous wrinkles, but what drew me to the image way way more was the everlasting passion of the human spirit that the image depicts.
The wrinkled weathered faces embraced in a kiss now suggest to me something completely different. That love’s intensity does not fade with wrinkles or gray hair. If anything, it grows more potent, more knowing, and more beautiful. And that the heart and spirit, never age.
You can learn more about my journey to Pointillism here.
