During 2024, I had the good fortune of receiving an art grant from East Central Regional Arts Council. The project involved painting eight oil portraits in order to create a comprehensive body of work. I selected a diverse group of people from the local community to use as subjects for the portraits. These people shared with me their stories of how they overcame diversity and/or in some way journeyed to authentic self, and my intent was to incorporate some of these elements in their portraits.

I asked all the participants of my project the following two questions:

1. What in your lifetime has been challenging for you, what have you overcome and/or what about your journey to authentic self would you be willing to share?

2. Is there anything you'd like to share about your journey that might inspire others or that they could learn from?

I did not give any requirement as to length of answers, nor did I even require answers. Some chose to answer, some did not. With each portrait I posted the answers as I received them.

Below are pictures of the portraits I painted. You may click on any one for details and/or answers to the questions I asked: