The Muse

Figurative artist Craig Pursley discusses his experience working with the same model for six years, in which he produced over 100 paintings

Rainy Daydream, oil, 12 x 24" (30 x 60 cm)

For centuries artists have been inspired by models, and the same person can appear in many of their artworks. Andrew Wyeth had Helga. Diego Rivera had Frida Kahlo, to name just a few. It isn’t always beauty that inspires an artist but an indefinable “something” that draws an artist to want to paint the same person repeatedly. I found a combination of that “something” as well as beauty in 2016. And in the six years since then, I have done more than 100 paintings of her.

When my wife, Julie, and I attended a play that year, we met a lovely young lady working at a playhouse theater. I was immediately struck by her big smile and upbeat attitude. I thought she would be perfect for a series I had just started working on called Retro Cowgirls. I gave her a card and told her I hoped she would consider modeling for me.

Blue Kimono, oil, 18 x 14" (45 x 35 cm)

Before we got home, I had an email from Hannah Collman stating that she would be happy to give it a try, though she had no experience. At that first photo session, I learned that she had been an art and a theater major at Dartmouth College. This, I came to believe, led to her being such an excellent model. As an art major, she understood what I was looking for and no doubt had taken figure drawing classes to become aware of poses. As a theater major she likely had lost the shyness of “performing” and so could relax and feel comfortable. Most of my models were new to the work and often were tense—and their poses showed it.