For a while there, I thought that elegance had fallen out of fashion. It almost seemed like people were trying to out-do one another in dressing down.

But I was mistaken. Elegance never toppled from its place of grandeur. And, actually, I knew it all along. After all, stars like Audrey Hepburn and Sean Connery will forever in our minds be synonymous with that elusive, timeless word. Gwyneth Paltrow exudes elegance. Brad Pitt and Gwen Stafani are on the fence for me…. I am not sure if they would like me, and part of elegance is the sense that you are essentially kind.

My wife April regularly makes me watch old Cary Grant movies like North by Northwest. Whether he is wearing an Armani suit in a dusty field, or a black turtleneck, Cary Grant is smart, sexy, elegant. Or take Jackie Onassis. Even with those pill box hats, she exuded graceful femininity to an entire generation of women around the world.

What is it about elegance, anyway? It intrigues me that this elusive word can be communicated to a viewer hundreds of years after the fact in a painting by Leonardo da Vinci or John Singer Sargent. We still appreciate Mona Lisa’s cool smile, and the calm dignity of Rembrandt in his own self portraits.

It pleases me when I know I have created an image that people will regard so highly, years after it is completed. I enjoy communicating something about the dignity and inner character of every person; the subtle things about them and the way they relate to one another…the feeling that elegant people are by nature kind.

These are the portraits I love to create. I hope they are already becoming precious treasures in the homes and hearts of my clients. I look forward to creating many more!


Mark