My First House Portrait

My First House Portrait

I grew up in Bergen County New Jersey. We lived in Upper Saddle River beside a babbling brook. There was a sheep meadow across the street, a corn farm on the other side of the brook, a vegetable farmstand up the road walking distance from the old stone church our road was named after. We eventually moved once the brook became a river and entered the house. But we didn’t go far. I joined my dad in Saddle River when my parents split. College took me to Syracuse, but I returned to reside for many years in Allendale and Midland Park. So, I was able to witness the change in landscape and architecture as Bergen County went from rural to the land of the McMansion. The old and the new was in my blood and artistic hand. My upbringing clearly influenced my illustration work and became the foundation for how my house portraits evolved.

So, this is how it all began — with an old, printed 5 x 4.25 note card of one of my first house portraits. The only record I have of a much larger original piece hanging on someone’s wall, buried in storage, or inadvertently discarded. I know it’s local to my hometown because that’s where I started my first portraits. But what town or street or homeowner I will never recall. And I’m certain the facade has been altered considerably since 1986.