I Still Stand - Do You? - Artifact: George T. Dickey Portrait

Artifact: George T. Dickey Portrait

portrait of an bald eagle

oil on board by Magdalene Story

Size: 11x11

About Magdalene Story
In a world that moves too fast and overwhelms us with images, I return to the discipline of slowness. My work draws on the language of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century painting, built through traditional oil techniques of that time. Each picture is constructed in layers: gesso, imprimatura, design, grisaille, and opaque, followed by multiple glazes using methods such as sfumato or chiaroscuro, and finished with fine details and impasto. The surface is then carefully coated with protective varnish and placed in a thoughtfully chosen frame. I don’t use these methods out of nostalgia; I use them to bring depth, quiet reverence, and a sense of lasting presence to the moments we live in today. The small scale is intentional. It asks you to come closer, to step away from spectacle, and to linger. I want you not just to see the work, but to feel it, to let it unfold before you. By bringing historical craft into contemporary subjects, I hope to bridge centuries, reminding us that painting is not just an image — it’s an encounter. Each piece is my idea of a contemporary heirloom: small, intimate, and built to endure long after the moment it was made has passed.