May I paint your portrait?

A little Luther portrait (copy of Cranach)
as part of the SFLC Fellowship Mosaic. 

This project builds on concepts of transportation, relocation, and the people we encounter along our own personal journeys. As I've been traveling along the subway for 5 years now, and seeing so very many interesting people along the way, I have yet to ask anyone if I could paint their portrait. With my studio in my house, I've always been just a little bit more than hesitant, but now that I've received approval from my church to let me use a room in the facility as a studio, this neutral location will serve as a safe place to meet with people. Now I just need to work up the courage to ask.

I'll be using metrocards as my surface. What better way to underscore the running metaphor? And since I've really enjoyed my previous work on these small, "transcendental" surfaces for a big, community-based mosaic  (see Luther there) and for the Single Fare exhibitions, I'm excited to use them again for this project. (I have over 200 metrocards saved up and ready to go...)

So I'll practice asking the question here: Um, uh... May I paint your portrait?