Shep's been gone...

...to Atlanta for the Portrait Society of America's annual convention, and what a great time we had.  The top photo is a special treasure because my friend Cheng Lian and I had the opportunity to meet the amazing portrait artist Michael Shane Neal.  Cheng won a major award at the Awards banquet that Donna and I attended on the last night, and Shane gave a great talk that inspired me to come home and totally rebuild my art studio.  He and others spoke at length about the necessity of painting portraits from life.  My studio was always great for me painting, but whenever a commission sat it could get uncomfortable.  So...