“Rich in Love” (portrait of Jaki Shelton Green)
Pencil, pastel, and watercolor
2021
NFS
For those who are unfamiliar with Jacki/her work over the years?….simply google her. Her talents as a poet/writer have been obvious for many years and well before she was made our state’s poet laureate. Quite aside (without diminishing) all the accolades?….I remain astonished at how she works and lives so relentlessly as a constant mentor/advocate/and just plain-out FRIEND to so many folks. It’s gratifying to see how her work and sincere giving-of-herself is so reciprocated. This woman, insofar as I’ve gathered, doesn’t need or want to have “fans”; she has friends……..and, yes, she is rich in love (reaping what one sows, and all that, obviously). I should also say that it would be pretty damn hard to make a bad portrait of Jaki (I’ve painted her twice); she was born gorgeous (physically), knows plenty of artists and photographers (hence, the originating photograph of this painting), and is, basically, a lovely thing to paint. I’ve had a hard, past two days, during which I decided to chase down some joy and paint Miss Jaki again (doing so makes me happy)…….this will be a gift to her and her husband, Abdul. And here’s an appropriately joyous song for Jaki: go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOBFd6dZqjQ