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I just love meeting new people, don’t you? This past Thursday night I met a bunch of riveting new people — or composites of people — created by painter George Herman. I interviewed Herman last year for Talking Writing. His landscapes and paintings of dogs, houses, and people, drew me in and sparked my imagination.
This new series, which he describes as “realistic portraits of imaginary people,” exemplifies what can happen when an artist shows up for work day after day, year after year. That combination of wisdom, regular practice, and ever-growing technique takes the results to a whole new level. Herman may have entered his sixth decade, but his light is only getting brighter.
His starting point for the series was a face with an interesting structure that he saw in a newspaper ad. From there, he took photos from a variety of sources, played with them on the computer, changing, for example, the tilt of a nose, chin, or mouth, and creating a completely new face. The hair of Shalom Aleichem launched one portrait.
These faces may remind the viewer of someone they know. “Girl 2,” for example, with her red lips and dark hair could be my mother. (These photos don’t do the work justice.)
And I found “Woman 5” just plain intriguing. Who is she? A singer? A dancer?
Herman creates characters with paint the same way a writer creates them with words. As he notes in his statement, “The process of painting, scraping, painting, and scraping continues until the head, the face, the expression, the light fall into place. And they become who they are.”
To see Herman’s exhibit, “Mans and Other” visit Albright Art gallery & supply in Concord, Mass.
Shifting Gears 
I am always amazed when looking at art. How do minds work in order to create like that? Such a gift. Thanks for letting us know about this exhibit and showing some of the pieces. Have fun with your blog!
So thrilled for you that you have started this! I will really be looking forward to your writing and perspective. And it looks as though you have put all of the thoughtfulness that you are known for in its design too. Thank you so much for including me on your blogroll–I am honored!
Th exhibit sounds great, and I’m so interested by your observation that he creates characters the same way a writer does with words. I want you to say more about that, because it has me wondering. Do we writers really build characters by layering on words, then scraping them away? Maybe.
Hmm, Martha, that’s a good question! Well writers do have to get the words exactly right both when creating or describing a character. Don’t you think the adding and subtracting of paint is a little like writing everything down and then editing it back so you use just the right words (colors, textures) to capture their essence? Don’t writers build verbal images by experimenting with words the way an artist builds visual ones with paint and other media?
Funny you should push me on that, Judith, because we’ve been talking about emphasizing “Words vs. Images” in an upcoming issue of Talking Writing.
I think there are some similarities to what visual artists do, especially for writers who spit out a whole lot in the first-draft phase. But with writing, there’s a sequence and a logic to the words that differs from layers of paint. The way I combine and recombine words doesn’t really feel like scraping away a layer to expose something underneath; it feels like reconjuring what I mean with every revision.
Thanks for the mention, Judith!
We hope to see you again for Amy Goodwin’s show which we just hung. Reception is tomorrow 6-8, 32 Main Street, Concord MA