In recent months, I have had several inquiries about portraiture.

So I thought I would take the opportunity to create a blog post to say Yes! – I am happy to accept these kinds of commissions. I can work in any medium that you desire: watercolor, acrylic, or oil, if you want a photo-realistic impression, or even highly personal abstractions in collage.

There is something incredibly pleasing about the transformation of old family photographs, especially since it often reawakens our memories, or at least, our sense of connection to our ancestry. It seems like some kind of magic to be able to take a small photo that might be fading and torn, forgotten, or damaged in some other way, and recreate it on a larger scale, infused with life again.

Hanna Sack, 18 x 24 in, watercolor, by Leila Currah, née Sack

When I was sixteen years old, I painted this portrait of my grandmother. It was the first watercolor portrait that I had ever done. To this day, it hangs in her house where she is still living.

I love detail, but I eventually turned away from photo-realistic work and have since spent the better part of the last decade exploring colors and textures and materials from many different approaches.

That said, I still love detail.

And I rather love painting details. So if you are interested in transforming an old photo or a new favorite, please get in touch with me. I would really love to talk and see whether I can help you to have your own experience with this kind of personal magic. Any subject is do-able: grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, children, newborns, friends, animals, pets. I can even throw in the farm.

Please email me with inquiries.