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Saturday, April 9, 2016

"Southern Charm's" Patricia Altschul Portrait Sitting

Bravo TV is back with its' hit show "Southern Charm", new series premiere this week,  starring the one and only witty and gorgeous grande dame Patricia Altschul - along with a cast of real life characters from the delightful town of Charleston.

http://patriciaaltschul.com

I was lucky enough to paint Patricia  recently at her beautiful historical home in Charleston for my "Face of Charleston" portrait project with The Charleston Mercury Newspaper. See pictures below.

portrait-in-profile-pat-altschul-at-home

The sitting was a real delight, as was Patricia. Alas, it was a Sunday and the butler's day off so I didn't get to drink a martini with her at the sitting's end. The consolation was playing with a new puppy.

Patricia is famous on the hit American show for her crisp martinis along with her hilarious equally crisp one-liners about pretty much everything. Vogue Magazine has done a couple of articles about her witticisms.

patricia-altschul-cocktail-party-rules/

patricia-altschul-life-lessons/

http://www.bravotv.com/southern-charm

I knew it was not a good day for my portrait painting hand to be 'off', even a little bit, or spill oil paint on the lush cream carpet and  softly lemon-colored walls. We chatted about all sorts of things as I painted Pat  in her sumptuous Southern living room. She looked so glam in a golden gown and perfectly coiffed hair.  Impeccable make-up. I felt a big scruffy next to her. Most of all, how on earth could I capture all of this quickly? After about  a two hour single life sitting,  Patricia saw the portrait for the first time. I was super glad her first reaction to seeing the oil sketch of her was a big smile. Phew. She could not have been more gracious toward it - or me.

I was also glad the cream carpet escaped a fallen brush or drip or two.  But I must confess to missing that martini once the pressure was off.



Patricia Altschul
By Johanna Spinks
Single sitting, two hours.
Painted for The Face of Charleston 






Patricia see her life sketch for the first time.

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