When you think “portrait artist” and the likes of Leonardo da Vinci (“The Mona Lisa”) or Rembrandt (“Self Portrait”) surface, you’re way off base. If you think Vincent Van Gogh (“Self-portrait in Straw Hat”), you’re getting closer. If you think Gustav Klimt (“Portrait of Adele Block Bauer”) you’re staying on track. But when you say “portrait painting” in the context of Seacoast (New Hampshire/Maine) artist Amy Ford, you need to capture an artistic expression more like Chuck Close (pixelated collages) or Picasso (Cubism and fragmentation). And yet, Amy Ford is none of these. She exudes her own poetic essence via her canvases and boards. Ford’s formal training began in the studio of Italian artist, Silvestro Pistolesi, where he instilled the classical Italian sensibilities and discipline so apparent in his work, and early on reflected in Ford’s work. And while Ford immersed herself in … [Read more...] about OUR SHARED HUMANITY: AMY FORD’S IN RELATIONSHIP EXHIBITION AT MCLAUGHLIN-HILLS BARN GALLERY