Do you have a look-alike?

I have heard it called a look-alike, twin stranger and also a face double. I have seen mine. When I lived out East I was visiting an artist representative husband and wife team in New York City. I entered their Brownstone home office and both of their mouths dropped open. She exclaimed, “You look exactly like our son”. I found this amazing and even hard to believe. They kept staring at my face. We sat down and talked. Then their look-alike son came home and they introduced him. We both stared at our resemblance to each other in disbelief then laughed. I understand and do believe it is possible. I have witnessed it myself. Somewhere out in the world it is possible there is another person who looks just like you. Another you.

It never occurred to me that it could happen with a portrait painting. A portrait painted of one person would be purchased by their double. What a coincidence, what are the chances of this happening? A twin stranger portrait painting, could this exist? A painting completed of a Cincinnati, Ohio woman, look like a woman in American Canyon, in the Napa Valley Region of California.  Yes it can.

The twin stranger portrait painting was not just a double; it was much, much more. Some how it captured a very intriguing resemblance. Not only a look alike face of the individual, but all of the quirky gestures of the body as well. The way she carried herself, look, smile, essence, hat, down to the surrounding scene it was painted in. The painting was a time capsule snapshot of the woman 2,309 miles away. A perfect match to how she looked six years prior. How can this be?

When she saw the painting in my Internet Gallery on my website, she new she had to have it. I agreed this painting seemed to be painted for her. She plans to leave the portrait of herself to her children after her death. All of her family was gone and historically have a tendency to die young. She was now in her forties, the time when most of her family moves on. She had no confidence in how much time she had left. Additionally she had just gone through an ugly divorce. It was a very emotional time for Tina.

This is one of Tina’s look-alike excerpts from a Facebook message:

“Looking at your portrait of “me”…in the garden…with my ever present hat and ponytail…fluffing to the side like in the pic…no makeup etc. and I SEE me! I’m the only one I know who dresses like that. The skirt at work in the nursery and the garden! My friends chide me about it! Okay…I’m sorry, how many different ways can I tell you the same thing?? ?lol.

…my journey here is full of even more blessings (smile emoticon) like this weird painting! Ha! What are the odds? Not just similar in looks but capturing exactly the looks and essence of me. Thanks Again Daryl. You have really done a wonderful thing for us!”

When the carefully packed painting finally arrived in California this was Tina’s response on Facebook:

“It’s everything I thought it would be and more. It’s not just the face; it’s everything in the picture…from her pose, like I hate my pictures, so I would want to be painted like that…the picket fence… It’s very emotional for me. Thank you. Someday I’m going pose with the painting and take a photo and send it to you. I am going to proudly hang the painting above the mantle.”

Then something unexpected happened for Tina:

“Wait, I just saw the back of the painting…you painted this in January 2009?
It’s just my mom, and step-grandpa died on January 30, 2009.

Daryl, I have a feeling I will be “checking in” a number of times before our lives are done! I just can’t express to you the impact that this painting is having on me, and my family.

The other day Russell, my firstborn, 22, came by for the first time since it arrived. He had seen the pictures of it but was unprepared for the impact it had on him. He looked at it for a while, got a little emotional, kept saying “but, how can this be?” “Everything, mom is you. That’s your hat you still wear, I’m pretty sure you have that top and skirt…and the fence is like at the Napa house??” How can this not be you?

He also said how glad he is I got it, that it was meant to be…people don’t just find perfect portraits of themselves on the internet every day. For me, I haven’t really begun to explore what it means to me.

Finally, I just can’t stress enough that I could not have commissioned a better total representation of ME.

I’ve never carried around a painting before. This thought has led me to look into the relationship one develops, or can develop with a painting.”

I cannot put in words:

“I could not be happier for Tina; in so many ways I could not even put it in words. This painting has outdone the authoring painter. A life for a painting I could not have ever invented or imagined. I am in awe.”

So who was the model for the painting Tina has asked me?

I painted a series of paintings called “Woman in the Garden”. My wife Robyn graciously offered to model for the series. She is the same age as Tina and could possibly be her identical twin. Who knows?

See the complete painting series “Woman in the Garden”, please click now.

Read more about the paintings of Daryl Urig on his blog here:
https://darylurig.com/BLOG/