6-3-08

Passionate for Portraits

By Chuck Bingaman, Contributing Writer

            Walpole’s Cassandra Kreek is sketching out a summer job—maybe a professional career—with portraits of individuals, couples and even their houses and pets in pencil and paint.

            “Most people think of portraits as expensive oil paintings by and for the wealthy,” Kreek observed earlier this week.  “But I like to think of my work as high quality art that is more accessible, for everyone.  Portraits are for people who want a lasting memory, not just for those that are into art for art’s sake.”

            Kreek, 19, who just finished her second year at St. John’s College in Annapolis, MD, has been doing portraits of people for several years with extensive tutelage by renowned artist Peter Granucci of Gilsum.  “I remember sketching in class at Fall Mountain High School in one notebook while taking class notes in another,” says Kreek.  “And,” she added, “I can remember

Cassandra Kreek showing a protrait of former Fall Mountain High School Principal Tom Ferenc and his wife.  Chuck Bingaman photo.

when my mom first handed me a box of crayons. I took out a big red one and started to work! It was just something I wanted to do. But I feel like I learned everything about portraiture from Peter.”

            While most of Kreek’s portraiture to date has been black pencil on paper, she also does colored pencil work and even oil paintings.  Most of the time she works from photographs of her subjects because, she says, “people really don’t want to sit for 4 to 20 hours!”  She also notes that often she works from several photos of the same subject to see it from different perspectives and in different lighting situations.

            Kreek describes her portrait style as “very realistic.  I look for character in faces and really create a highly detailed view.  I love to concentrate on the details that make someone unique without making it a caricature.  I concentrate on what’s important without exaggerating it.”

            Granucci noted, “Cassandra was one of my top students among hundreds I’ve had. She has the ability to stick to it, to maintain her focus until the piece is completely finished…something that separates the professional artist from the amateur.”  He added, “Cassandra has the skill to really capture the character of her subjects.”

            Why portraits at all when inexpensive digital photography makes shooting pictures so easy and quick?  Kreek says, “Most photos are far from perfect and have to deal with multiple light sources.  In doing a portrait I can control the light sources, take time with the details, and really try to capture the personal qualities of the person.  And I can put people in any environment, not just the one presented by the photo opportunity.”

            Kreek’s portraits cost anywhere from $60 to two or three times that amount depending on the number of characters in them, the size of the work requested and the time she estimates the work will take.  People who would like to explore the possibility of a Cassandra Kreek portrait can telephone her at 603-756-4381 or email her at Cassandra.kreek@sjca.edu. 

            How have Kreek’s portrait subjects reacted so far to her wok?  “Most people,” she says, “are pretty excited about the results!”

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