“She’s Becoming” by Lani Emanuel

@Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica
through March 12, 2016

It’s always a pleasure to visit Lora Schlesinger Gallery. You see an art that you don’t see anywhere else. Lora’s eye is quite sharpened and eclectic yet. The surprise today came from paintings by Lani Emmanuel.

Lani Emanuel was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. As a girl she lived in the Mojave Desert and as a teen, in northern California. She attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, (FIDM), in San Francisco and Los Angeles, graduating with a degree in fashion design. She enjoyed an exciting 15 year career as a fashion designer before starting a family.

And then came the painting.

Lani Emanuel combines remarkably the rigorousness of European classicism with a very personal touch. She continues with brilliance the tradition of British portraiture. Like the Master Thomas Gainsborough, her models pose with a genuine attitude, no background, just a few elements in the costume indicate the time and quality of the character. Like Gainsborough she brings a lot of attention to the costume.

“Prom” (below) shows Emanuel exceptional skills at painting. The folds of the dress are perfectly rendered, the wispy tulle is perfectly made and we barely hear the sound of the silk squeaking at each move. With “Sweter girls” the photo doesn’t show the three dimension visual effect.