The painting of portraits—Artist’s statement
Portrait painting is (for me) a deep spiritual experience, a prayerful endeavor. In and through the physical characteristics of the person being painted is a map guiding me through and beyond emotions to where the soul of the person lives. Here I coax the soul out, so to speak, with whispers and fleeting glimpses of compassion, intuition, and something mystical. This hopefully endows the finished image with a FEELING of who the person being painted IS. I always speak in the present tense of portraits because they have a soul, and the soul always lives and is present. AVH
Pintar retratos es (para mí) una profunda experiencia espiritual, una labor de oración. En y a través de las características físicas de la persona pintada hay un mapa que me guía a través y más allá de las emociones, hacia donde vive el alma de la persona. Aquí, por así decirlo, saco el alma a relucir con susurros y destellos fugaces de compasión, intuición y algo místico. Espero que esto le dé a la imagen final una SENSACIÓN de quién ES la persona retratada. Siempre hablo en presente de los retratos porque tienen alma, y el alma siempre vive y está presente. AVH
Portraits of our neighbors
A defining work came in the year 2001 when the Archbishop of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Monseñor Roberto González Nieves, O.F.M., commissioned me to paint the official portrait of the first Blessed of Puerto Rico, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago. It hangs in the Hall of Saints of the Pontifical North American College at the Vatican.
