Paul Barker
Image 1 Title: Portrait of Dr. Maya Angelou
Dr. Maya Angelou approached Hallmark Cards in the year 2000 to discuss the opportunity to be in a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. As SVP of the Creative Product Development Division at Hallmark, I met with her and discussed the opportunity for her to license her writing for greeting cards and gifts. She agreed and we began developing product with her inspirational writing. I spent a lot of time with her learning of her life story and her experiences. She was a transformative person in my life teaching me what it was like to experience the racism and lack of civil rights that she experienced. She worked with Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and so many others during the civil rights movement. The cards and gifts sold well and were tailored toward women and encouraged strength, courage, sisterhood and love. Sadly she passed away in 2014. Her voice and words are needed more now than ever. We are such a polarized country now around politics, race, economic standing, religion, gender and more. She often advocated for loving one another and had little tolerance for people who harbored hatred in their heart. I remember she used to say that “We are more alike and unalike. We all want the same things like safe homes, good schools for our children, healthy families and more”. I miss her terribly as she reminded me of my mother. She also spent some time with my daughter speaking about how a woman must stand up to controlling men. I feel like we need her inspirational words, wisdom and insights these days more than ever. So I painted a small portrait of her to commemorate our time together and the life experiences she shared with me and my daughter.
Image 2 Title: Portrait of Hamlet
This is a portrait of young Hamlet in the famous scene (Act 5 Scene 1). Hamlet passes this grave with Horatio and is shocked to see the bones of dead people being treated so badly. One of the gravediggers shows Hamlet the skull of the court jester. Hamlet is holding the skull of the King’s Jester, Yorick. Yorick would entertain Hamlet when he was a child and Hamlet was devastated when he learned that he had passed away. Hamlet is taken aback saying “Alas poor Yorick! I knew him Horatio.
Image 3 Title: Portrait of an Old Man
I have always tried to find beauty in the portraits I paint. Sometimes it is in the person’s face, sometimes it is the light falling on their face and sometimes it the expression. I have drawn and painted portraits of children, young people and the older people. I am always looking for those fleeting moments of beauty that come and go so quickly. We all age and our faces change with time but the beauty still hides in there if you search for it. I am always on the look out for it.
