" 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.
