I am one of those people who finds it difficult to sit still at the best of times. Put me in front of a portrait painter and I almost immediately feel a tickle on my nose. Once that has been dealt with, at least temporarily, my left ear begins to itch. Then my right ankle, which has been looking after itself quite happily for several weeks, demands attention. And so on. Celia was the most patient and long-suffering of portraitists, and succeeded, at any rate partially, in putting me at my ease. She even allowed me to drink a surreptitious glass of wine. It is hard to judge one’s own portrait but what she produced, despite my being the world’s worst sitter, seems to me profound. Many friends have admired it. The odd thing is that I keep on seeing new depths in the painting. In that sense it is never finished.

Stephen Glover 2024

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