The Golf Course President

I painted this portrait of my step-dad Bummie several months ago. He's the president of a golf course in Ohio, a course he and his family founded 50 years ago. In planning this portrait, I wanted to capture the essence of this man's spirit, his good nature, his kindness and his work ethic.



Many times an artist doesn't know the portrait subject well, so painting Bummie was especially rewarding. He's a remarkable man. Raised on a farm in Ohio, he went on to college and after graduating, he went into the Army during World War II. His German language skills were a determining factor in his being sent to the Normandy shortly after D-Day. Most of his fellow trainees went to Pacific theater of conflict instead and few survived. Bummie served under General Patton as a forward artillery observer--not a position with a long life expectancy either--and saw action through Normandy and through the Battle of the Bulge. Before the war ended, he went on to serve with the troops who liberated the Dachau concentration camp.



After the war, Bummie stayed in Europe and did graduate university work before coming home to marry Ruth and raise four children. His first child passed away as an infant and his wife Ruth passed away at a young age, too, leaving Bummie a widower with four children. During these years, he helped create the golf course while teaching and later counseling high school students.



When I was a teenager, my mother Marilyn and Bummie married and they raised his four children along with my brother, sister and me. Imagine raising seven children, five of us teenagers at the same time. I shudder to think....

During all those years, Bummie worked at the high school during the school year and worked on the golf course weekends and summers. Besides working, he taught Sunday school and was active in the community with numerous civic organizations. When Bummie retired as a high school guidance counselor decades ago, he just turned his summer job on the golf course into full-time work. He turned 90 this past summer and it was the first year he didn't drive tractor and work full-time.


So when I thought about how to do Bummie justice, I wanted to show him in day-to-day life. He's a humble man and very down to earth. Instead of painting a more formal portrait, I chose a photo of him at work on the golf course, on his trusty tractor, just stopping by to say hello.

Setting the composition, I took an old photo of Bummie on his tractor and cropped it tight, exposing just enough of the tractor to set the scene and to bring the focus to the man himself. I admit there's a whole lot of red in this painting, just as there was in the original photo. Normally, I'd edit out some of that red since it's so dominant and draws the viewer's eye away from the face. However, for this particular subject, the red was appropriate as it's Bummie's favorite color. Somehow, even with all the red, it works...especially against the green of the golf course in the background.

Capturing the true likeness in a portrait is the crucial factor to a successful painting. Sometimes I've been known to slim people down in their portraits, erase a few lines here or there and just generally try to present people in their best light. The more I worked on Bummie's face, the more I wanted to capture every line and every crease, the crinkled skin at the corner of his eyes, the lines on his forehead, the strength of the nose, the softness through the jaw line. I'm guessing he was in his late 70's in the original photo.

So, all this realistic painting of a 70++ year old face does bring to mind our culture's emphasis on beauty and youthful beauty at that. How many times have I looked in the mirror at my own ever-changing face and thought, "if my forehead falls any further, my eyebrows will be on a line with the bridge of my nose." The puffiness over my eyes signal "you know you could get your eyes done...a little nip here, a little tuck there." And those creases in the cheeks and on the forehead..."wonder if Botox might help?"

However, Bummie's face doesn't bring any of those thoughts to mind. His face snaps me back to reality. Here's a face that reflects all the hardship, all the joys, all the struggles, all the accomplishments. His is a beautiful, authentic face in the fullness of life.

So, this year, in a few short months, it will be spring again in Ohio and Bummie can get back out on his beloved golf course on a golf cart. If you see him out, stop and say hello. He's the kind of man who always takes time to talk....and to listen.