Light Envision
Foundations Collection
2018
"A playful study of perception, observation, and learning to see beyond what first appears. "
The Question
What do we see when we look beyond the obvious?
How often do we mistake what we see at first glance for the whole story?
And what might become visible when we take the time to look again?
About the Work
At first glance, something about this portrait may seem unusual.
Perhaps you’ve noticed it already—
Where are her eyebrows?
Well… they are there.
They are simply so light that they almost disappear into the surrounding tones of her skin.
That small observation became part of the inspiration behind Light Envision.
But perhaps there is something fitting about a painting that asks us to look twice.
We often see what we expect to see. Our minds quickly fill in details, make assumptions, and move on.
Painting has taught me to do the opposite.
To slow down.
To observe.
To question what I think I am seeing.
Light Envision became a playful reminder that sometimes the things we overlook are precisely the things worth noticing.
Go beyond the ordinary. Look again.
Looking Closely
The subtle eyebrows
Almost disappearing into the surrounding skin tones, they become a quiet lesson in observation.
The transitions of light
Small changes in value help define the face without relying on strong contrasts.
The relationship between skin tones
Subtle variations create structure and dimension within what might initially appear to be a simple field of colour.
The portrait as a whole
From a distance, certain details disappear. As we look closer, they begin to reveal themselves.
From the Studio
Every painting teaches me something I wasn’t expecting.
While working on Light Envision, I became increasingly aware of how much we rely on first impressions.
When something appears obvious, we rarely question it.
But painting requires another kind of attention.
A painter cannot simply know that an eyebrow exists. I have to observe exactly where it begins, how light falls across it, how its colour relates to the surrounding skin, and how subtly it might actually appear.
That way of looking has influenced much more than my paintings.
It has taught me that seeing is not always the same as looking.
Sometimes we have to slow down long enough to notice what was there all along.
Pause & Reflect
What is something you once overlooked because it seemed too ordinary to notice?
When was the last time looking more carefully changed what you thought you were seeing?
What might you discover if you allowed yourself to look twice?
Within the Collection
Light Envision belongs to the Foundations Collection, a body of work representing an important period of experimentation, observation, and artistic development.
Created in 2018, this painting reflects an early stage of my continuing exploration of portraiture and the discipline of learning to truly observe.
These works document the years in which I was developing the technical foundation of my practice while discovering that realism is not simply about reproducing what we see.
It is about learning how to see.
Light Envision represents that idea in a particularly playful way: sometimes what appears to be missing is simply something we haven’t looked closely enough to find.
Studio Notes
2018
Oil on Canvas
16 × 20 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
Availability
Available
$18,000
Continue Exploring
Acquisition
Interested in making Light Envision part of your collection?
For acquisition inquiries, please contact the studio.