Portraits statement

Project Art Therapy. Over the course of a year Darrell painted volunteers who came to his studio and sat for him. His subject matter included his friends, collectors, fellow artist and other people who visit his studio on regular bases. While his subject matter sat for him, he concentrated on the structure or their facial elements, color of their skin tones and let the mood of the day and conversation determine the expressiveness of color, tone and brushstroke applied to each painting. Roberts’ volunteer models engaged in conversation about their day, week, family, friend, and relationships while he painted them. It was from listening to their dilemmas, life adventures and what was on their minds; the mood of each canvas was set. Darrell’s portrait series was painted from observation but in an abstract style, relating to the California figurative painters from the 1950’s he idolizes. The painting composed in series of each model, and the number determined by the available times his models sat for him over a year and how long it took to complete each painting. Canvas sizes were rectangular, 16” x 20” and square 24”x24” depending on the structure of the face. The meditative thought stares back at the viewer through the expressive intuitive use of color and the directional glare of the eyes. Some models have 4 canvases of them, while other have 15-20, depending on the number of sessions they were available over the year.

|Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago| |McCormick Gallery, "Surface Matters"| |Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago| |Not Just Another Pretty Face, HPAC| |NJAPF, Hyde Park Art Center| |NJAPF, Hyde Park Art Center| |Vermont Studio Center| |Sculptures / Assemblages| |Portraits| |Portraits| |Portraits statement| | Biography-Artist Statement| |"Luscious" Hyde Park Art Center| |"Luscious" Hyde Park Art Center| |Interview| |L2 Kontemporary, LA| |Humming Bird Press, Chicago| |Art-Impact.com, works on paper| |Brickton Art Center| |mn gallery, Chicago| |Noir gallery, Jacksonville, IL| |Ossia-5 Artist Project| |contributing editor| |Slide show Flash| |Paintings| |Corporate Commissions| |Corporate Collections| |Studio| |Contact Darrell Roberts/Price List| |Studio Interview| |Galesburg Civic Art Center| |GRANTS| |ArtNews Magazine| |Paintings Abstract| |INTERVIEW| |Hinsdale Center for the Arts| |Sculptures| |Indian Hills Community College | |Collage| |University of Northern Iowa| |Evanston Biennial|