Marlene Evans Putnam with a 1995 portrait of her late husband, politician, lawyer and journalist Harold Putnam. When they first met 26 years ago, Harold told Marlene she was “a great artist and could only get better” with time.
A portrait of the artist would feature expressive brown eyes set, proportionately large, into a finely shaped face. The ratio of forehead to chin would describe the perfect egg that is the starting point for every artistic rendering of the head. No need here to include a Hapsburg chin, Napoleonic pate or Durante nose; this head does not stray far from the ideal. Perfection is enhanced by full, medium-length hair, smoothly drawn back from the face, exposing small ears and neatly gathered at the nape of the neck. After the eyes, the artist’s full lips would be the next most prominent feature. They are unconsciously parted even when their owner is silent, as though ready to speak words of encouragement to a student or a portrait subject.
If this were a full-length portrait, its subject would also be seen as slender, girlishly so, and as elegant at work in blue jeans and painter’s apron as she is in formal attire at the theater or an art event.
Read the entire article in the April 2007 issue
True Tails is a series written by Amy Robinson for Vero Beach’s dog lovers. Ask Amy about your dog’s behavior by clicking below.
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