Unveiling highlights recently completed portrait commissions and figurative works by some of the most talented and active members of the Portrait Society of America. In this month’s feature, Kimberly Azzarito, assistant director of the Portrait Society, interviews acclaimed artist Adrienne Stein to discuss the inspiration and creative process behind her latest painting, Riverbend.

Unveiling

A Sanctuary in Paint: The Making of Riverbend

By Kimberly Azzarito

In Adrienne Stein’s painting Riverbend, the viewer is invited into a world that feels both sacred and wild, where a moment of stillness is carved out from the noise of modern life. Stein chose a vertical composition intentionally, likening the structure of the piece to that of a soaring cathedral. This decision was not just aesthetic, but deeply symbolic.

“The trees are towering, vaulted pillars,” Stein explains. “The light coming through the grass, the hair, the leaves and the pheasant wing are reminiscent of a stained-glass window.” The verticality draws the viewer’s eye upward, invoking emotions one might feel when entering a great place of worship: a sense of reverence, wonder and introspection.

Adrienne Stein, Riverbend, oil on linen, 60 x 30 in.

At the heart of Riverbend stands Felissia, the model and muse. Stein speaks with admiration about her. “My model Felissia, with her dreadlocks and earthy style, is cast as a forest sprite or an earthbound angel.”

The setting is no less significant. The painting was inspired by a particular creek in a park in Denver. This quiet patch of nature, nestled within the city, is described as a spiritual sanctuary and a calm oasis, in stark contrast to the bustling urban environment that surrounds it.

To bring Riverbend to life, Stein took Felissia to the park in the late afternoon, when the golden hour light filters through the trees in a magical display. “As Felissia was posing along the creek and I witnessed the light dancing through the trees, I saw in my mind’s eye what I wanted the composition to look like,” Stein recalls.

Before beginning the final painting, Stein created two small watercolor studies and one larger color study in oil. These preliminary pieces allowed for exploration of tone, composition and light before committing to the full-scale work. The pheasant wing, an important visual element in the painting, was borrowed from her husband Quang Ho’s studio. It serves as both an ornamental detail and a symbolic nod to the natural world’s intricate beauty.

Ultimately, Riverbend is more than just a painting. It is a visual retreat and an intentional pause amid the chaos of modern life. “My hope,” shares Stein, “is that this painting, and all of my work, offers an antidote to our noisy, industrialized and information-saturated world.”

Riverbend invites viewers to lose themselves in a scene that feels sacred, elemental and profoundly human, reminding us that serenity can still be found if we take a moment to look for it. —