WEDU Films Oil Portrait Artist Jessica Rockwell

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Apr 7, 2016
2 min read

Updated: Jun 14

The PBS Program WEDU Arts Plus interviewed Jessica Rockwell. They also met with 2 separate families whose portraits Ms. Rockwell had painted.

A little stir was created in our quiet neighborhood the day that a brightly colored van showed up at our house. It displayed WEDU with bold letters and scenes of newscasters and shows. Some of our neighbors told us they couldn’t help but be curious as to what was going on.

The producer and cameraman introduced themselves and laid out a shooting and interview plan for us. They set up lights, a high-end video camera and sound gear in the art studio. The cameraman shot paintings on the walls, awards, news clippings and certificates of appreciation. He photographed Jessica while she was painting and talking.

She mentioned that the word “art” came from the ancient Indo-European word, “ar” that meant “to fit together.” She thought that even after thousands of years, that still described the essence of painting. Then Brennan and his mother arrived. This was the first time we had seen them in many years. Natalie was the same beauty that she was 11 years ago. Brennan was twice the height of the little boy of 4 that Jessica had painted, but still endearing.

Artist and subject meet each other again after 11 years when she first met and painted him as a 4-year-old child.

Natalie said how much she appreciated having both of her sons’ portraits done by Jessica. Even though they relocated recently, the paintings are still the focal point of their new house. For Brennan, he grew up feeling the family bonds through such beautiful paintings.

Then the parents of 2 young twins arrived for the unveiling of the children’s portraits that Jessica had just painted. They were thrilled. They talked of how much it meant to capture their children at this young age on canvas by Jessica Rockwell. They were very satisfied with the prospect of having these paintings for years to come and then to be able to pass them on to their children for their own family lines.

Jessica was interviewed, calm and collected. The producer asked her questions or said “Tell me about …” and Jessica elaborated some of her experiences as a portrait artist. The interviewer and the videographer were duly impressed with Jessica and her work. They stayed well beyond the time that they had expected. There was such a large body of work that had already reached so many people. They hugged her and took pictures of themselves with her to make a remembrance of their time together. There was so much that was filmed in our studio that day. I couldn’t imagine how they could cut it down to 5-6 minutes. We just looked forward to seeing the final cut and print on WEDU’s Arts Plus show... and we have it now!

— Contributed by husband of the artist, photographer and manager, Gerry Chromoy.