Randy was the first person I asked to paint instead of the other way around. When I first started this project, I imagined I would just approach people who had a great look in one way or another — face, hair, demeanor. Randy fit that bill and I am happy I painted him. But Randy was maybe the only person of that initial group I approached who actually followed through.
I found that people who I asked to paint would politely say yes, but when follow up time came and I asked to schedule a session, they would politely disappear. And then it hit me to just paint those people who approached me.
I would put out a call on Instagram and then pretty much anyone who responded would get painted. It was a lot of fun at first. Several people thanked me for “selecting” them over others but the truth of the matter was that anyone who stepped up got painted. That could have been the alternate title to this show — “we stepped up.”