The bloom connects them; the profiles look away.
I am Naomi Brooks. I paint bold profiles with rich deep skin tones, hair and air blooming into loose brushed color, flat New York grounds. The likeness I keep out; the person I keep in. This one is two sisters in profile, facing opposite ways, one bloom shared between them.
They face opposite ways on purpose
Two sisters. They wanted to be painted together but not facing each other – not mirrored, not symmetrical, just two people who share something and are looking at different things. So I put them in profile, one facing left, one facing right, the bloom rising between them where their hair meets the air.
The shared bloom is the whole piece. Ruby said it “powerfully connects while the profiles look away” and she is right. The color does the work the faces do not do. You see the connection without needing to see them look at each other.
The likeness stays out
I do not paint realistic faces. The profile gives you the person – the line of the nose, the shape of the head, the way they hold themselves – but the features stay flat and the likeness stays out of reach. That is respect. You see two people, not two portraits.
The critics all called the bloom dynamic, vibrant, magnetic. Charlotte said it draws the eye like a magnet, and Valentina said it perfectly captures the connection. I will take that. The bloom is doing what I built it to do.
This one is loud
This is for a bedroom, a study, a private living room – somewhere with enough wall to let it breathe and enough quiet around it to let the color do its work. It wants a clean wall, good light, and someone who is comfortable with a bold piece that does not apologize.
Not for a family hallway, a waiting room, or any space where guests expect calm. The bloom is loud and the profiles are unapologetic. If that is a problem, skip this one.
Gallery-wrapped canvas, in 3 sizes — 16×12, 24×18, 32×24 in. Ships free within the continental US.
