DISTANT RELATIVES

As many of you have probably already seen on my facebook page I've recently had a show go up at the Emerson Space Case this month entitled "DISTANT RELATIVES".

The show features three large portraits on wood panel, which is a first for me in both scale and material.   As an avid fan of old photographs I've amassed a pretty good collection of my own family photos that I sometimes draw on for inspiration. "DISTANT RELATIVES" centers on three of those photos, specifically family members that I never got the chance to know, but who's influence wears heavy on the overall narrative of the family on my father's side. The show is designed to reflect on that narrative and the place that I might play in it for future generations of my family; those for whom I will become a "distant relative."

My great grandfather Israel Schraer, my partial namesake who passed on when I was an infant.
Ink and Watercolor on Wood

My uncle Arnold, the second oldest of my father's three brothers. He was a professional artist in the bay area and died of melanoma at the young age of 42.
Ink and Watercolor on Wood


My grandfather Paul Schraer depicted here as a young man. Although I know my grandfather very well, the stern-faced man in this image is unrecognizable to me. As he is the link between the other two men it seemed fitting to include him in this series
Ink and Watercolor on Wood

The show will be until the end of September and can be seen at the corner of NE 30th and Emerson in Portland, OR every day until 2am.