Portraits by Lindy Blanchard
Showing from September 14, 2024 - December 15, 2024
Lindy Blanchard shares her portraits, including those that evoke her own personal journey and those that celebrate black dignity and humanity.
Meet the Artist
Lindy Blanchard
Lindy Blanchard is a visual artist now living in Fort Lee, New Jersey. She received her BA in History of Art, but realized after her studies, that ‘making art’ herself was what she really wanted to be doing. Her work, after attending the National Academy and Art Students League in New York City, was primarily based on realistic renderings of places she has traveled, or lived.
With great interest in the human face she then began doing commercial portraits. Recently, she has been focused on non-commercial, realistic portraits of black people, usually with no decorative background, son that viewers must see just the person. Her objective is to present the simple truth of humans portrayed with sincerity and dignity —- as white folks have been through the centuries.
Lindy reveals their individual personalities with careful, time-consuming details of features and their chosen clothes which take months to create.
Her work, in many fields, have been accepted in juried shows, and won numerous awards.
Artist Statement
I was greatly influenced by the myth storyteller, Joseph Campbell. He spoke often of the medieval knight’s journey which I then translated into my own personal journey through the knight Parsifal. You see two of my five portraits beginning with my own journey and the people who were guides in my life. I also included three of my six small paintings that show the knights journey to the heart.
The other portraits are recent. I felt that it was time to celebrate black dignity and humanity the way we have with white folks for centuries. I use oils and eliminate decorative backgrounds to focus the viewer’s eye on the persons painted. The details of the face and dress are important to me and bring out the special personalities of each portrait.