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A Portrait of Harriet

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
IMG_2366.JPG



"Harriet". 14 x 18 inch acrylic on canvas panel (still a bit wet in places at time of photo).




Here's the backstory:

I met Harriet in a coffee shop when she was 15 and I was 40. She was soon tagging along with me everywhere I went. Being slow to catch onto things, I didn't notice how Harriet had begun looking up to me until her mother sought me out one day. Her mother explained she needed help keeping Harriet in school.

I was naturally surprised that Liz -- Harriet's mother -- would seek me out to ask for help keeping her daughter in school, and I asked Liz what she thought I could do about it. That's when Liz dropped a bombshell on me. She looked at me like I was clueless and then told me Harriet had adopted me as a father-figure.

Liz and I eventually worked out how to keep Harriet in school. You see, the problem was, Harriet was bored. So we got her into a program for geniuses -- consequently she became un-bored, and successfully graduated.

Liz popped another surprise on me the day she looked me up. She asked me to take Harriet to Valley View Hot Springs the next time I went. Valley View was a clothing optional resort that I frequented back then. She explained that Harriet was dying to go to the place because she had heard from so many people how special it was -- people would describe the near wilderness atmosphere of the resort to her as "spiritual" and "sacred".

I was astonished -- who expects a mother he's never before met to ask him to take her 15 year old daughter to a nudist resort, "sacred" or not? But Harriet had said so many good things about me, that Liz already trusted me by the time we finally met; so the next time I went, I took Harriet along.

Harriet and I some years later lost contact with each other, but I have an old photo of her that I wanted to paint a portrait from. Tonight, as you see, I finished up the portrait. I hope you enjoy it.
 

BSM1

What? Me worry?
Uhhh...Great Pic, not sure about the judgement of a 40 year old man taking a non-relative 15 year old girl to a nudist resort...no matter what the trust level.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
Uhhh...Great Pic, not sure about the judgement of a 40 year old man taking a non-relative 15 year old girl to a nudist resort...no matter what the trust level.

As it happened, there turned out to be no problems at all with it. I ended up taking Harriet along with me several times.
 

Terese

Mangalam Pundarikakshah
Staff member
Premium Member
That's a great painting Phil! Real stylish! She looks real strong and brave too. I hope her academic talent gave her a good life :)

Though admittedly she must have had bad taste if she adopted you as a father-figure :D
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
That's a great painting Phil! Real stylish!

Thank you so much, Terese!

She looks real strong and brave too. I hope her academic talent gave her a good life :)

She is. Quite strong and brave. Harriet is no one's follower. She dances to her own tune, always has.

Though admittedly she must have had bad taste if she adopted you as a father-figure :D

Admittedly, her only real flaw. But then I was a decent person back then -- before you drove me crazy.
 

savagewind

Veteran Member
Premium Member
I don't understand. @Sunstone What does "She was soon tagging along with me everywhere I went. Being slow to catch onto things, I didn't notice it " mean, please?

What didn't you notice? That she was present?
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
I don't understand. @Sunstone What does "She was soon tagging along with me everywhere I went. Being slow to catch onto things, I didn't notice it " mean, please?

What didn't you notice? That she was present?

No, sorry for the confusion. What I didn't notice at first was how much Harriet looked up to me, how much she was trying to emulate me.

I was made aware of her feelings only after Liz, her mother, told me straight up that Harriet was coming home at nights to talk of nothing else besides me and the things I had inspired her to think about that day.

For instance, Liz said Harriet was setting goals for the first time in her life because one day I had told her to start setting goals. Stuff like that. I had no clue that Harriet was being influenced by me until the day Liz told me all about it.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
Sunstone, is this the same woman you talked a lot about before? The one with the many experiences? Or is this a different woman?

You captures some sort of essence in this painting ... haven't put my finger on it yet.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
Sunstone, is this the same woman you talked a lot about before? The one with the many experiences? Or is this a different woman?

I think you're referring to Suzanne, Vin. A different person.

You captures some sort of essence in this painting ... haven't put my finger on it yet.

The photo from which I did the painting seemed to me that it must have been taken by someone who knew Harriet at least as well as I did -- because I believe it captured something about her, too.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
I think you're referring to Suzanne, Vin. A different person.

The photo from which I did the painting seemed to me that it must have been taken by someone who knew Harriet at least as well as I did -- because I believe it captured something about her, too.

Right, thanks. I had forgotten Suzanne's name. You have interesting friends.

When i coached at school, twice I switched over from the boys team to the girls team. Once was by request of the lesbian colleague who didn't want to coach the girls for fear of parents doing false accusations. The other time was to protect them from a male colleague whom I didn't trust. So I totally get the trust thing. I wouldn't have taken her to the nudist camp though, because I'm personally ridiculously modest/shy. But certainly I would have taken a younger woman to a museum or camping, without any issues, if there was a mother like Liz around. I probably have already, just can't remember. Used to hang out with my daughters' friends a lot.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
You have interesting friends.

I have been known to describe myself as "a boring guy with more than his fair share of interesting friends". People too often think I'm joking when I tell them that. In fact, it's pretty much spot on.

When i coached at school, twice I switched over from the boys team to the girls team. Once was by request of the lesbian colleague who didn't want to coach the girls for fear of parents doing false accusations. The other time was to protect them from a male colleague whom I didn't trust. So I totally get the trust thing. I wouldn't have taken her to the nudist camp though, because I'm personally ridiculously modest/shy. But certainly I would have taken a younger woman to a museum or camping, without any issues, if there was a mother like Liz around. I probably have already, just can't remember. Used to hang out with my daughters' friends a lot.

It seems a shame to me that -- for whatever reason -- people are so paranoid today. It was a little less that way back when Harriet and I were hanging out, but even back then, one lady told me that I should ditch Harriet because "she will file false charges against you someday"! Nowadays people are even more paranoid than that lady, if you ask me.

I mean, she'd never even met Harriet, but she thought she knew for sure Harriet would end up filing false charges against me because, as she put it, "that's what teenagers do these days". People are so paranoid.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
From what little I've learned about you over the net, Harriet would have enjoyed your company, had you tagged along. On the other hand, I doubt very much she'd get along with someone so warped as to think all nudity is sexual, etc.

Harriet -- even at 15 -- knew better than that.
In my experience, there are a lot of mature 15 year olds. I certainly enjoyed coaching that age, both genders. One young man confided in me one day about how he'd been at a party on the weekend, and a certain 'get around' female classmate (she was quite pretty) had come up to him and just said, "Let's go" beckoning him for a sexual romp. Now most 15 year old guys would be thrilled, but not him. He said, "What? You've got to be kidding! I'm not that type of guy." So yeah, it was fun to be a listener/watcher with that age group.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
I have been known to describe myself as "a boring guy with more than his fair share of interesting friends". People too often think I'm joking when I tell them that. In fact, it's pretty much spot on.

It seems a shame to me that -- for whatever reason -- people are so damn paranoid today. It was a little less that way back when Harriet and I were hanging out, but even back then, one lady told me that I should ditch Harriet because "she will file false charges against you someday"! Nowadays people are even more paranoid than that lady, if you ask me.

I think many people just project their on feelings onto others, in this and many other ways.
"If I couldn't keep it in my pants, than how could any other guy?"
"I think trump is a genius (or fool). How could anyone think otherwise?"

It's another type of folly. Some folks need to get out more.
 

Rival

Si m'ait Dieus
Staff member
Premium Member
I think it's a really good portrait and I love the colour scheme. The black background works really well.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
I think it's a really good portrait and I love the colour scheme. The black background works really well.

Thank you so much! I'm curious. Are there any ways in which you would improve upon it? I can think of a few, but I'd like your opinion. You have a good eye for art.
 
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