Watercolor, pastel pencil, and oil pencil
12″x14″
2013
I was sort of surprised, just before this past Christmas, when a very nice man from Greensboro called up to inquire about a commission. Pretty soon (and, yes, I do know how tease the facts out of folks) I discovered that he’s a veteran, works at the VA (which is to say that you can safely guess he’s no more overpaid than anyone working at the VA….which I think is a REAL national scandal/shame), and loves his wife.
I didn’t charge him for the portrait; it was a pleasure to do it…..and doing so made my Christmas a lot more special than it would have otherwise been. It was a surprise/secret for her, by the way…..Anthony’s a good man and, I gather, a fine husband (I just love their body-language in this picture).
By the way?……the title has nothing to do with their being black (whatever that means)…it’s the title of the ONLY song that could go with this portrait of a good marriage. Here’s a version of it, as sung by Catherine Russell (whom I also happen to admire a great deal)….go to (this version is wonderfully slow, beautiful, and plain-out sexy…):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk_WPHHmb00