| As a young Democrat in San Jose California, I
had the honor of shaking hands with John Kennedy when he visited San Jose
on the Campaign trail, and as an art student I was inspired to do
many oil portraits of him.
When Barack Obama's Presidential campaign began,
he inspired me in much the same way John Kennedy did, and I began painting
a series of oil paintings of President Obama and his family. One
of the paintings depicted Obama and Ted Kennedy together at the Democratic
National Convention, titled
"The Dream Lives On"
I worked with Shepard Fairey to have my Obama
paintings shown with his famous red and blue poster at the Manifest Hope
Gallery in Denver during the Democratic National Convention.
My painting of the Obama family was used in the
Obama Diversity Calendar. The painting was used for the month of
August, which is President Obama's birth month. The calendar was
sold at the Inauguration.
Last month two of my Obama paintings were featured
on the front page of the Sunday New York Times, and three of them are included
in a new coffee table book "Art for Obama", published by Shepard Fairey.
The book is now available in book stores and on Amazon.com
I wanted to create a lasting memorial for Ted
Kennedy, so I began a new painting I titled "At The Helm"
Below are the day to day pictures
of the painting being painted.
|
oil
on canvas portrait by Ron Keas
