Live Love

I'm delighted to announce that I've joined the Talia Koval Live Painting Consortium to offer live wedding and event paintings. Talia is an internationally-recognized live painter with an incredible gift for capturing the essence of celebrations. I've admired her work since we met a couple of years ago at Lake Tahoe, during a plein air event. We began "painting out" together in the Tahoe area.

Thanks to the incredible popularity of live wedding paintings, Talia has added me to her team. We share a similar impressionistic sensibility and a heartfelt philosophy of delivering stellar customer service.

The buzz and excitement of a wedding or special event is a wonderful experience for an artist. We're capturing the energy and beauty of the setting, as well as the essence of the special people in attendance. It's a fabulous way to capture the magic of the day, in a dimension beyond photography.

We start by arriving early and painting the setting. Then, depending on what scene has been selected for the painting, we add the celebrants during the ceremony, or even the first dance at the reception. Live painting is different from painting a traditional portrait--there is a flow, almost a dance, with the experience. My 30 years as a makeup artist (quite another type of live wedding painter!) also informs my approach to painting faces.

We also love to interact with the wedding guests--I especially like to talk to the kids in attendance about making art. A live painter adds an entirely new dimension to a celebration. (And yes, we show up looking as polished as the wedding guests--no paint-spattered overalls, and with a traditional French easel of the sort used by the Impressionists.)

Afterward, I'll take the painting back to my studio for finishing touchups. Once dry, the painting is varnished, then carefully packed and shipped to the happy couple.

To learn more, please visit taliakoval.com.