Expressions of Quilly

Expressions of Quilly | 72”x 18” | Oil on Canvas 

Quilly and I became friends in Philadelphia. Quilly is a good, kind and determined soul. He came from Liberia where he was a successful, professional man. Here in America he cheerfully works at lesser jobs while he diligently strives to enhance his marketable skills and adapt his Liberian “english” to his new country’s norms.

When we met he was smoking fish at his home in South West Philly (a rough neighborhood to be sure) and taking the fish out in a cooler to sell. Beyond working hard to make it here, Quilly is also working to get a small school built in the Liberian town of his birth – an effort to give children opportunities he did not have. He is really quite remarkable. I love both he and his wife Mary.

This award winning multiple portrait allows the viewer greater insights into the personality and emotions of this fine subject. One can also enjoy the rich variation of color in his skin tones.

Here we see seven head-to-chest portraits of Quilly, each with a different emotional expression on his face. In each image Quilly is wearing a white suit coat, white pinstriped shirt and tie. Each tie is the same pattern but different color. In the second image from the left Quilly has his right hand up to his forehead. The background is straight titanium white.

A contemporary work, masterfully painted in a classical style.
 
"You should have the Art you Love."