Stuart at Good Friends

About the Work

This painting is often pointed out as one of my weakest works by professors, friends, and even my significant other. I have been told the skin looks like play-dough, and it is missing something. Maybe they are right, but despite the criticism, I had so much joy painting this, and I can feel that same joy when I reflect with it.

About the Artist

Ash Gaude is a portrait artist currently located in New Orleans, Louisiana. After years of moving around the United States and living in the Caribbean, her artwork has found a focus on a person’s individuality. Gaude paints to reflect her subject’s unique experiences and personal emotions, while also demonstrating how that subject reflects herself. Many of her subjects are her close friends who share similar experiences of being a struggling young New Orleanian while also embracing the city. Gaude often displays this in acrylic or oil, and more often than not painting the full body as if the subject was life sized. Gaude received the Tolmas Scholars Grant in 2019 from the University of New Orleans and currently has a full assistantship with the University of New Orleans.