Bill Abler

Bill Abler is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Human Development Counseling at UIS. Working in a broadly representational style in oil, pastel, and charcoal, his subjects include portraits, figures, landscapes, and still lifes. Art and aesthetics also figure prominently in his teaching research and clinical theory developmental initiatives.

Le Chapeau Jaune (The Yellow Hat)

Oil on Canvas

16 x 20

For me, the very best models or “sitters” bring a quality of presence to the process of posing that challenges the painter to find the requisite tools to respond in a meaningful way. Simply “holding still” does not constitute a “quality of presence” (indeed, teapots and bowls of fruit have been known to hold a specific pose indefinitely with great precision and reliability!). However, a model engaged in an intensive internal dialogue of some kind, a dialogue that can be perceived from without, will provide the painter with an opportunity to capture something greater than the surface particularities of the human form. Tori brings this special quality of presence to her work as a model. For its part, the yellow hat she incorporated in this pose added yet another dimension to the posing process as well as the painting outcome.

Sherry

Oil on Canvas

24 x 36

The model for this piece assumed a pose that cried out to be captured in paint. To my eye, Sherry “owned” the space she occupied in the studio with a quiet dignity and strength that evoked the indomitability of the human spirit. Her feet planted firmly on the floor, her head turned upward toward the light, her eyes looking beyond the present moment toward a future in which her resolve will surely prevail – what an extraordinarily powerful and compelling image! The opportunity to grapple with compositional elements and transcendent qualities such as these proved to be both a delight and a formidable challenge.