Hi Friends!!  I hope you are having a wonderful Holiday week! I am in Colorado now with my family and am cherishing the time together!! I thought this would be a great time to share an amazing artist with you. While I was working on a project for one of my clients, we started talking about a portrait artist she had met and wanted to show me his book. At first glance, I thought it was a book of portrait photography, but then I realized artist David Larned created some of the most beautiful painted portraits I had ever seen. I immediately had to find out more information about his beautiful work and contacted him!!

I always enjoy getting to know and share the stories of others who do what they love, and David Larned is certainly one of those people! Though he always painted, it wasn’t until college that David decided he wanted to make a life out of it. “I realized that art was the only class I was truly passionate about.  From that moment on, I never looked back.”

With his father in the Navy, David was accustomed to moving around the country every couple years as a child.  More geared to military bases than art museums, his family was in foreign territory when it came to their son’s proclivity for painting. “They didn’t know what was happening. Neither did I. But now that [my art career] has worked out, they take credit for it!”

David’s work focuses primarily on portraits, but also enjoys painting landscapes and still life. In a realistic, technical style reminiscent of the 19th and 20th century of European and American realists, his paintings explore what makes people and places so intensely beautiful.

After his first exhibition, he started receiving an overwhelming number of portrait requests and knew that portraiture was something to gravitate towards.

The first step in doing portraits is getting to know his subjects. In order to capture their personality in two-dimensional form, David relies on his intuition
more than factual research. “Portrait painters should be able to sense who their subjects are without having to rely on their resume.”

Small portrait projects start at $20,000 and usually take around 60 hours to complete while larger ones require up to 80 hours! The exceptional quality is worth the investment. Not only do you get a beautiful work of art, but it becomes a family heirloom to be passed down through the generations.

The process begins with an hour-long photo session since only very rarely does he come across someone who wants to sit for the full 60+ hours.

Back at his studio, David usually works on a couple pieces at a time. Always wanting to be painting something, he’s found that this approach keeps him busy – while one piece is drying, he can turn his attention to the other!

David has had a few unusual requests. He once was commissioned to paint a recognizable portrait of a woman who didn’t want her face to show! Somehow, he found a way to get the back of her head to look just like her!

His favorite projects are the ones where the client lets him do his own thing! “They always get a better product for it!” The fur on her wrap and on this beautiful pup, both look like you could touch it. You can feel its softness though his strokes!!

One perk of the profession that David never expected is the opportunity to work with an impressive array of celebrities, well-known businessmen and women, and other household names. Born in New York and most recently based in Chester County outside of Philadelphia, the artist has done portraits for the who’s who of the tri-state area…

And he is now getting into the Houston scene as well… As I was browsing through his portfolio, I was surprised to find the portrait of these clients of mine!!! Capturing their personalities, something so tough to do in painting portraits I was even more enchanted with his pieces!

What a treasure this one is!! It seems to capture the love George and Barbara had for each other, their kindness, and the love I think we all felt they had for us.

David’s wife, Sarah Lamb , is also an immensely talented artist. With a body of work comprising mostly still life pieces, Sarah has exhibited in solo shows several times at Meredith Long & Company here in Houston, as well as at Spanierman Gallery in NY and John Pence Gallery in San Francisco among other galleries.   She has been featured in magazines such as American Artists, American Art Collector and Southwest Art as one of America’s most talented young painter. She also does beautiful commission pieces!!!  This is definitely a power couple!!

Big thanks to David for sharing his story with me!  You can find out even more about David on his website, and if you are interested in commissioning him to do a portrait of you or your loved ones, you can email him at davelarned@hotmail.com.

With deep gratitude, I want to express my appreciation for you and the loyal support that you have so generously given me personally and the entire Segreto Team.

Your trust, feedback and inspirational collaborations have given me the privilege to follow my dreams to build a company whose fundamental passion is to improve our client’s daily lives by surrounding them with beauty at home.

I am so thrilled about what is to come in the New Year and am so appreciative of the hand you have played in our journey along the way. We look forward to sharing our future endeavors with you.

’Til next week and the new year!!!
xo Leslie