My romance began on the sidewalk. I overheard someone say "At least the 44th president is coming soon." Without thinking about it, my mind ran with the double entendre and I immediately imagined Thomas Jefferson's O face. I am a Virginian, after all. I could talk about deconstructing history, but time already does a pretty good job of making us all a mess.
I wanted to draw faces. I have always been fascinated by the small percentage of people who can't understand the basic symbols of smiling, crying, wincing, etc. What does an upturned brow mean? As an artist, it's easy to go into caricature but I'm trying to avoid it. These are not illustrations. There's something else happening.
I could have called this site "44 presidents eating pasta." But they are not eating pasta, and that will be our dirty little secret.
-Harry Swartz-Turfle, January 2009
UPDATE: Andrew Jackson is new as of, March 30, 2010. This site is taking longer to finish than Sting, but I'm really only working when the mood tickles. Upcoming: JFK. This site will continue to be updated until all 44 presidents have finished.
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