How big is it? The stretched canvas is 93 in. x 74 in. The frame is 7 in wide. Making to size with frame approximately 7 ½ x
9 ft.
How long did it take
to do? Initial idea was in October
of 2014. Photo session was
February 2015, Sharon started the initial
sketch in March and finished on September 6th. Sharon
has well over 1,000 hours invested in this project.
Who is in the
painting? Everyone is from West
Michigan and there are no actors with the exception of Lady Liberty.
How did you find the
people to participate? Friends,
friends of friends, lots of phone
calls. When we explained the project
people were very interested and if they could not participate they became a
recruiter for the project.
How was the painting
done? It is a traditional oil on
canvas (Belgian Linen) done in a layered (Flemish) technique, see technical
details about the painting.
Who came up with the
idea and how? Sharon and Rich
jointly created the concept which evolved over a discussion of what would be a
meaningful painting for ArtPrize in Grand Rapids MI. They
contemplated what Sharon could do that would be a positive statement and would be something those thousands of people visiting Art Prize would consider beautiful as well as meaningful.
Was the painting made
from a photo? No it was created
from photo sessions. All 17 people were
gathered in a large barn in Hudsonville on February 7th 2015. More than 100 digital images were
made by Rich to document the setting – individuals, as well as everyone
together. Sharon then created the final
composition from those images – using 42 of them to “assemble” on the sketch
for the final painting.
Is there significance
to the date on the newspaper? Yes, that’s
the date of the session where everyone gathered to pose for the painting.
