above: Bob Cormier, "Man with the Fur Collar" pastel, created when the artist was 24 year old
I studied with Bob briefly, less than a half year on a weekly basis after a friend invited me into the class, but his words echo in my head from time to time as I paint and they inform me.
Bob was a Boston-School trained artist, who studied with the famed R.H. Ives Gammell, who himself had trained with William M. Paxton, who had studied with the French painter Jean-Leon Gerome. I did not study long enough or intensively enough to be a part of this lineage myself, but I enjoyed being in Bob's company and under his wing as we painted beautifully dressed models from life each week in natural light. One of the fellow artists and I recently thought about how we would love to still be able to attend this class to paint from life and enjoy the company of Bob and the other artists.
Bob was a kind man who gently steered. He spent time with me spraying a pastel so I could add more layers. He encouraged me to expand my range. There are a few things I learned from Bob which I have no doubt I will take with me for my entire life, and what a gift that is.
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.
