Intimate Portraits was born of the idea that each artist no matter what their subject matter or medium is present in their work. They cannot escape leaving something of themselves in the art they produce. 

It is still possible, given the appropriate conditions, that is, an artist with an idea and a friendly gallery, that good outcomes are possible. I had been musing on the idea of asking a few artists to make a work, commit it to a group show, together with a short statement of why their work was an Intimate Portrait. 

I took the idea to Alison Lloyd, then at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery and Museum, Swansea. She found the idea intriguing. I offered my list of artists to which Alison added a further group of artists  to create a much broader and more comprehensive list.

Wanting to maximise the shows potential I contacted the Wales based Seren Press and in conversation with Alison they offered to produce an exhibition catalogue, if they could add to the project with responses from some of the writers and poets published by Seren. The exhibition was a great success and an example of creative collaboration.

The exhibition toured to Oriel Mostyn Art Gallery, Llandudno, North Wales. 

The Artists:
Iwan Bala, Keith Bayliss, Lynne Bebb, William Brown, Glenys Cour, Gareth Davies, Tony Goble, Harry Holland, Deborah Jones, Nigel Meager, Roger Moss, Cherry Pickles, Shani Rhys James, Jeff Spedding, John Uzzell Edwards, Emrys Williams, Lois Williams, Sue Williams, Nigel Wood, Ernest Zabole.

The Writers:
Duncan Bush, Tony Curtis, Peter Finch, Paul Henry, Nigel Jenkins, Hilary Llewellyn-Williams, Catharine Merriman, Sheenagh Pugh, Lloyd Rees, Manon Rhys.

The Catalogue:
Intimate Portraits: Contemporary Responses to the Theme of Portraiture
Edited by Alison Lloyd
ISBN-13: 1854111531
Format: Paperback
Publication Date: Thursday, May 15, 1997