The Portrait Society of America members mourn the loss of Gordon Wetmore

" It takes an artist to make an artist."
Emilie Gruppe


A few weeks ago we learned that Gordon Wetmore, the Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Portrait Society of America was very ill. He experienced his first signs of illness in June and very sadly he succombed to a rare disease called Prion last week, shortly after being diagnosed.

Gordon was an artist and painted over 700 portraits of distinguished subjects including: President Richard M. Nixon, Jack Nicklaus, Fred Couples, Dr. and Mrs. Norman Vincent Peale, Leon Uris, Princess Grace, Prince Rainier and Prince Albert of Monaco.

Having attended five PSA conferences around the country I can attest to what a fine organization Gordon envisioned and created. The level of professionalism and organization of artists-helping-artists is a beautiful thing to experience. The PSA, created in 1998, now has over 3000 members internationally. It is not an overstatement to say that the PSA through it's annual conference and competition has raised the level of portraiture and figurative painting internationally. What a sparkling legacy Gordon has left.


Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

Another great conference: 2010 Portrait Society of America conference in Washington D.C.

I'm back to work in my studio in full force this week, very much inspired after an action-packed few days in Washington, D.C. The Portrait Society of America's annual conference is filled with painting demonstrations, lectures, bus trips to local museums, a banquet to celebrate the top portrait artists in the country and this year even offered a wonderful mystery art sale.

Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com.

More on inspiration: dig, dig, dig

And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from.
T. S. Eliot

Finding artistic inspiration is what it’s all about, of course. If you are not inspired, there is no reason to pick up a paint brush! We pick up master artists golden threads and then hopefully translate all of this into our own voice and language. As Ray Kinstler says, “I’ll teach you the language of art—what you want to say is up to you.”

Artists must find this balance between being inspired by master artists’ work and finding their true voice. Sometimes someone would ask Ray how long it takes to paint a portrait. The answer—40 years and one inspired weekend.

Mr. Kinstler spoke at the Portrait Society of America conference in Philadelphia in April about his teachers, mentors and dear friends. “They made my life richer.” He swept vastly through a long list of awe-inspiring artists. He admonished us that we must dig, dig, dig our whole lives to be better.

Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com.