Hayley, the subject of this painting, is the same beauty with natural curly hair that you see in the portrait entitled “Hayley and the Bear.” You’ll find her at age three with her “teddy” toward the end of this gallery.
Hayley’s mom is the librarian in Bay Village, which borders my city. When I visited her “house of books,” she would often say to me, “Hayley is just as beautiful now as she was at the age of three, when you did her portrait in pastel.” Finally, I had an opening in my calendar so I told her mom, “Please send her over." I had just purchased three designer formal gowns, and I asked Hayley to try them on for size. She picked the pink one, and I photographed her extensively, using many different views and lighting techniques. This made the selection of photography from which to work difficult because she looked wonderful in each image. After comparing many images, I picked this view with its red-violet lighting on the right.
I proceeded by selecting poplar 1 x 4’s that I used to construct the stretcher frames on which I stretched the canvas. I then primed the canvas using eight coats of gesso, sanding between each application to produce a very smooth surface.
I composed the drawing from several different photographs. This allowed me to piece together the best facial view, body position, and most expressive hands. Hayley’s naturally curly hair was infinitely complex. I drew it curl by curl just as it was, without a clue as to what the background void might contain. Exhausted, I slept well that night, and upon awakening, it occurred strongly to me to set her portrait at the Mar-a-Lago. This setting seemed to be a fitting environment against which to showcase Hayley in her formal gown.
I had participated in an annual dinner party at the Trump estate for the previous three years. Why was I there? On the day before each dinner, I presented a family portrait of the honorary president of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. These conventions included themed dinners such as “The Lion King” where viewing live lions, tigers, and chimpanzees was part of the evening’s entertainment. The following evening, some of the participants were escorted in stretch limos to the Mar-a-Lago estate for the annual dinner party of American Greetings and industry executives. My family and I were honored to be included in all of these special activities so perfectly orchestrated by American Greetings, which, of course, included sponsoring my artwork.
The enchantment of those evenings long remained vivid in my mind. In Hayley’s portrait I used the table of carved cherubim and the impossibly detailed bronze planter from the foyer. Because the hall of pillars and the Italian tiles from the outer corridor were also compositionally excellent, I couldn’t resist including them. The lifting of her dress seemed reminiscent of an earlier age. Were you able to read the fine calligraphy on her necklace?