A Portrait of Me

It’s not often that you get a chance to see yourself up close as others do. Having decided, like a lot of Baby Boomers, to avoid mirrors at this point in our lives as much as possible, I was surprised when I caught my first glimpse of a portrait of yours truly done by my talented friend and neighbor Suzie Gurwin.

I had commissioned portraits of my sons (twice) years ago from a friend who is also a talented painter and they are some of our most prized possessions. And who wouldn’t like to stare at paintings of their beautiful children (naturally) captured in one lovely moment of time?

Seeing the rendering of “me” – the me that is me today -- took me aback at first, but it didn’t take long for me to come around to thinking this is a wonderful thing.

I presented the completed portrait to my family on Christmas and we immediately hung it in the living room for all holiday visitors to see. It took a little getting used to seeing it there, but I am comfortable with it now and catch myself sneaking little glances at it when I enter the room.

I have to admit that it would have been nice to have a wonderful portrait like this done when I was in my 20s. But back then I didn’t have a friend who would offer to do this for me, and make it as painless as possible!

Suzie and I had met a couple of times so she could take photographs of me to use for the portrait. The one we ended up choosing was from a bunch of self-portraits I had taken for my photography class last semester. The photos, as you can see, showed me with a notebook and pen in hand, looking like I couldn’t wait to jot down a clever phrase or record the facts about a story that I could embellish for this Ezine -- Teri the writer as opposed to Teri doing whatever else she seems to do.

I am grateful to Suzie for using her many talents to create the portrait for me so that I have will have the same opportunity to revisit that particular moment in time as I get older.

Having a portrait done is something to consider if you are thinking about a special gift for someone. Whether it’s for your children, your grandchildren or even better, yourself, a hand-painted portrait is something that never loses its grace no matter what happens. When I am old(er) and gray(er), I know I will be very happy that I have this reminder of what I looked like in the prime of my Baby Boomer years. How I wish I had portraits of my Mom and Dad in their prime.

You can contact Artist Suzie Gurwin directly at suzie.gurwin@verizon.net to learn more about having a portrait done. It’s very enjoyable, I swear!

By Teresa K. Flatley

www.boomthis.com

1/09