Matt Talbot
T. Nelson 2016
I finished the Talbot painting - almost, I have some more glazing to do,
shading - but the figure and composition is pretty much finished. I
hope to frame it importantly. I did a quick 'fuzzy' shot of the canvas,
as shown above. It came off a bit too light.
I read that he was an 'undersized, wiry man,' and a laborer. I read he
wore his working clothes everywhere - so I imagined a jacket and
collarless shirt, a bit worn - just as I always depict him. The
difference this time is that I have him balding more than in my other
paintings. There are a couple of early paintings, one by a religious
sister, depicting him bald, and I wanted to do so as well. My
composition is spare - a few religious mementos and scraps of paper,
upon which it is said Matt would make spiritual notes - a small statue
of Our Lady of Lourdes and holy cards of Therese and Catherine of Siena
comprise the 'still life' on the mantel. Above these, a very small
image of OL of Perpetual Help hanging by a string. Matt stands in front
of the tall, narrow tenement mantel, upon which these poor possessions
are displayed. Interrupted in his devotion, clutching a crucifix, he
looks out at the viewer.
As I painted, I had in mind a young Irish man I had met at Lourdes years
ago. He wasn't very tall either - but a handsome man, and something
about him reminded me of how Matt might have been at the time of his
conversion. I tried to imagine him in his 60's now, and made a sort of
composite of images of Matt Talbot and my recollection of the man from
Lourdes. The face developed rather quickly. The paint is quite thin -
not as layered as I normally would paint - and suddenly this face
appeared, which startled me. I don't know how I did it, where it came
from, or how it came together so swiftly.
Anyway. Quirky as it is, this is my third attempt to paint venerable Matt Talbot.
