My husband Douglas Johnston has just turned a life-long hobby into another great blog, a multimedia one called A Study in Sherlock. If you have even a passing interest in mystery, history, literature, or perhaps the best known fictional character of all time, I think I can promise you that this will be a fascinating journey.

[…] It’s my intention that there will be something new every weekday, and occasionally on weekends. That includes original pieces (many of which are written for newcomers to the Canon), photographs, teasers for the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, illustrations, news stories, book reviews, audio snippets, “workshop” projects (such as do-it-yourself reference cards or CDs), radio plays, and featured sites. Most of these entries are selected to offer something for neophytes, but –hopefully– also provide ample occasion for discourse amongst the more experienced.

Dancing with Matisse, Oil on Canvas; © Jennifer Pohl

I have family members working in almost every field of endeavour –medicine, business and theatre, to name but a few– but one of my sweet and smart first cousins, Craig Cutler, is something of an artist. He runs his own thriving business in downtown St. John’s at the Trouble Bound Tattoos studio. I’ve been recently trying to convince him to let me do some studies in his shop, because I have a feeling there’s a painting to be found there. Because of my location, and my rapidly advancing due date, it’s a work that won’t happen overnight, so I thought it made sense to post an earlier piece painted for one of my first shows, Mother Mary, Wicked Women and Other Stories, called “Dancing with Matisse”. It seems to be a good fit for the today’s Illustration Friday.

Dancing with Matisse (detail), Oil on Canvas; © Jennifer Pohl

Reading Dorian Gray (Portrait of the Artist’s Sister), Oil on Canvas; © Jennifer Pohl

I posted a detail of this painting several weeks ago, but the word for this week’s Illustration Friday seems as good a reason as any to reveal the rest of the image.

Between ultrasounds and looking after our first born, I’ve been keeping pretty busy these days, but I’m also well underway with work in pastel and egg tempera and expect to be able to post more new pieces soon. After a stormy couple of days I was able to get out for a walk and some oxygen and the light was beautiful.

Reading Dorian Gray (Portrait of the Artist’s Sister), Oil on Canvas; © Jennifer Pohl

I’ve always loved to paint people with presence and it’s once of the reasons I’ve painted my sister so often and will likely do so many times again. I’ve chosen this detail of a small painting to represent the word from this week’s Illustration Friday. A portrait of my sister could have equally represented many words: witty, unique, intelligent, quirky and passionate, but more than anything she has great strength of character.