Straw Hat by Morgan Weistling available from Snow Goose Gallery.

"I am in no way comparing myself to Martin Scorsese, but I understand why he chooses to work so much with particular actors,” explains Morgan Weistling. "It’s not that he knows what they are going to do, but that he is continually surprised by what they do. He knows that they are going to give him a great performance, but it is the how and what they deliver in a performance that exceeds his expectations.

"Emily is a young girl that brings this same talent to modeling sessions for my paintings. (She appears in some of my most popular paintings, Apple Girl, Emily’s Corn, Joy and Strawberry Jam.) Straw Hat is simply one of those special combinations of expression, mood and lighting that present themselves when Emily takes on a character.”

SmallWorks canvas released November 2011.