As a kid, consideration of an upcoming family wedding meant planning explosive choreography. I would etch out a large swathe of parquet wearing a dress my mother had painstakingly made to match those worn by the bridesmaids. (Anything less than that of a masterful seamstress wouldn’t have held up to my Electric Slide.) I didn’t have time to study the bridal party in their glory or my more sedentary family members when inhumed by other dancing celebrants, head down or whipping around in a scrunchy. Now, as a wedding painter, I find myself perched slightly overhead on the dais, deeply and carefully observing every detail of the wedding guests. I am a student of the wedding, and live event painting allows me to redirect my passion for moves reserved for receptions to documenting the dance. And though my subjects should be dancing like no one’s looking, the onlookers play an equally valuable role in the moments I’m capturing in paint. The magical reality about owning a painting of this kind is this: one day photographs will appear whimsical in how they date us; our crepe garments, wide neckties, hairspray, dance moves. Even the tone of the image and the medium of the paper used to print the picture tell this tale. But an archival oil painting on a grand scale draws from a centuries-old legacy that never gets old or tires. This gesture of offering guests the chance to bear witness not only to the union of families, but also to an oil painting created on site, which smacks of a grace and timelessness, and associates these families with the deep and unique values of the sacred act that a wedding represents. An oil painting is as timeless as dance itself, regardless of the strokes or steps.
So let’s cut a rug and get painting!