Armand Fennell

From the artist, Rusty Eveland: I don’t consider myself a portrait artist, but I was compelled to participate in this project. After meeting with the family and agreeing on a size and agreeable photo, I took aspects of the victim’s life and incorporated them into the final piece. In this case, I found out that Armand liked the color blue and football.If you look closely, the background design is a stencil of a football shape. The most difficult part of this project is hoping to capture this person from a photograph and have the likeness resonate with the family.I hope that it was successful.

From the curator: I seem to keep coming back to the way that the artists imbue a sense of life and liveliness into the portraits. I find what Rusty has done with the motif of the football is very dynamic. The motion of the turning shape, overlapping itself over and over forms a vibrant frame around Armand’s warm face. His body positioning, the slight pulling away of his collars, continues that feeling of movement. The use of the blues, his favorite color, and blacks and grays on everything except the face further brings out the expressive face of Armand.

Many of our artists do not consider themselves portrait artists but felt compelled, as did Randy, to participate in this project. I think he, and they, have truly helped viewers get to know these souls.

Armand Fennell Portrait of Armand Fennell by Rusty Eveland oil on board 31.5”x 31.5” 2019