This painting dates back to my illustration days at Parsons School of Design. I was taking Painting 101, a class taught by the late, great Robert Levering. As I began to get comfortable with the materials, I experimented with more aggressive color in my creations. For years I painted with an overly saturated palette; people had blue shadows, orangish skin, and bright red noses and ears. “Bob” made the comment that I was making my subjects look as if they were suffering from a cold, yet he kept pushing me to have fun and keep experimenting.

This particular painting bore a passing resemblance to a friend of mine at the time, so I appropriated her name for the title. (As a side note, the friend was not amused thinking she looked as if she were suffering from allergies). Despite that, this remains a personal favorite of mine to this day.

Aria
Oil on canvas
12 x 24 inches
Painted circa 1995 by Matt Cauley