BEAUTY: Painting--Elly Smallwood

Elly Smallwood's engaging, dynamic, large scale portraits are full of color and gestures that render them near-abstract. What's fascinating is how she zeroes in on a part of the face like the nose and lips or just eyes, creating a kind of creepy hyper-attention to a detail to which we normally do not pay such close attention.

Top to bottom: Alistair II; Head Study (Mike); In The Forest; Portrait In Pink And Black; Self Portrait (With Palette); Untitled In Umber; Untitled (Portrait Of My Father)

http://www.elly.ca/