I think Greif is a portrait that was painted as part of a quest to find portrait subject matter that might appeal to a broader audience that just those related to the person in the painting. However, I am not sure it should be considered as real commercial subject like the Children of Thailand as it works to convey a much deeper emotion. Also I think this was painted around the time her boyfriend Sandy, left ostensibly to visit his daughter in Australia, driving there across Europe and Asia in a beat-up old Land Rover. Although, being away at school much of the time, I was spared most of the melodrama. The painting may well have been my mother using her negative emotional energy in a creative way.

It is an interesting painting in the way it shows the strengths of the two application styles of the oil paint. You have the strong texture of the palette knife work on the rough shawl and background stonework that in comparison exaggerates the smooth brush work on the young woman’s face.