Explore the many faces of the theme Portraits. This collection features the art and writing of creatives from around the world.

Gold Artist of the 2021 Portraits call for artists.

Brian McClear

Gold Artist of the 2021 Portraits call for artists.

Brian McClear’s portraits seem like a planned snapshot. Even if the depicted individual is posing, it still feels like they are caught in a moment. Some eyes look at the viewer directly, who might feel observed. Therefore the painting is reversing the situation, and suddenly the observer is the one being looked at. They create a private moment of exchange, an exchange of life stories.

Brian McClear is the Gold Artist of the ArtAscent Portraits call for artists. To see the full body of work and profile, get a copy of the ArtAscent Art & Literature Journal Portraits issue.

https://www.mcclearart.com/

Gold Writer of the 2021 Portraits call for writers.

B. Fulton Jennes

Mr. Byrd

wore an eye patch to cover the black hole
left when a big buck careened over the hood
of his car one morning, its skull smashing
the windshield, its antlers gouging his eyeball…

The childhood memories are often vague, almost faded, as old photos in one’s family album. And yet, B. Fulton Jennes’s poetry demonstrates, they occur to be those tiny puzzles, which construct our identity and nourish our imagination as we grew up.

B. Fulton Jennes is the Gold Writer of the ArtAscent Portraits call for writers. To see the full body of work and profile, get a copy of the ArtAscent Art & Literature Journal Portraits issue.