Dear Cousin,

The Dear Cousin, portrait project was born from three things: the love of family, the love of art, and a deep need to belong.

Let's start with art. I've successfully completed one art class in 1991 at Western Michigan University and attended one figure drawing group at Crooked Tree Arts Counsil in Traverse City. I love art and feel a great connection to our grandmother through her love of art. I love talking about art, looking at art, and all the inspiration it offers. Prior to 2022, I had never painted a portrait. I've created portraits with fabric panels and loved the process but wanted to use oils when creating the cousin portraits. Most of the portraits were created in one sitting and took approximately four hours to create. The exception, my sister Eileen, took me five times to create and is the only portrait with two figures. I guess I needed to hug her in perpetuity.

In my heart, I hope this collection inspires you to start your own art journey. I promised myself I would not correct the mistakes I made (especially in the beginning with color, value, etc.). This was done as a reminder to me that it's okay to make mistakes. It's okay to be a beginner and accept the process. I hope you enjoy seeing the arc from the raw beginnings to a more refined presentation.

There's never too much family, right? And we are blessed with family. There may be a limit to how well we can relate in a big family. I grew up hundreds of miles from this family. So not only the size of our family, but geography as well, got in the way of knowing my cousins. Not knowing some of my cousins faces and names was very disturbing to me. So disturbing that it compelled me to do this project. 250 hours of painting, eighteen hours of board prep, ten hours of creating and handwriting invitation cards to each cousin (as I'm not on social media), twenty-two brushes, six boards, one bottle of safflower oil, and one Asaro Head later, I'm not so disturbed anymore.

We all need to belong. It's what grounds us, staves off depression, and brings internal peace and joy.

Bridget Callaghan