Bill Plein Aire

This is me, a self-portrait I did about 20 years ago. Actually I would have never done it if it weren’t for my friend Dave Gray, my associate at Root Learning, with whom we often met on Sunday morning and went to paint together. One day I was in a cemetery painting ‘plein aire’ which means painting outside directly, and Dave suddenly said: “Hey, Bill, look up!” And he just snapped a picture of me as I was. So that photo caught me with the brush in my mouth which is very typical of me while I'm painting. I usually carry several brushes and at the moment I had one in my mouth just to hold it while I was working with another one. I always liked the photograph that Dave took and so I decided to turn it into a painting. Now, many years later, a look at this painting brings warmth into my heart and a smile on my face, because I really enjoyed the days it depicts. These are great memories of great moments with friends.