Portrait of the Artist

By Debbie Forman

If you painted a portrait of artist Jon Friedman, he would be smiling.

He always does. At least, it seems so during our two-and-a-half hour visit in his Truro studio.

Well, why not smile? “Every day I feel incredibly lucky to have this life,” Friedman says. “I paint all the time. It’s pure play.”

But it sure doesn’t look like it. His portraits, landscapes and beach scenes are meticulous renderings. He’s an exacting painter, and that looks like hard work.

But he loves it. He thinks a moment about that smile I mentioned and then says, “I think I’m essentially a happy person.”

And probably would be so even if he was teaching philosophy in a congested, corner classroom instead of making art in a large, airy studio. He actually started out as a philosophy major at Princeton University in the ‘60s and received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 1969 from the Ivy League school.

Although Princeton didn’t have a fine arts program, Friedman took advantage of the few drawing courses – life classes, which typically have nude models posing for the students. Eighty percent of the class were football players, he says, with the smile breaking into a grin and then a gentle laugh.

Everything about Friedman is gentle. He’s a compact man, slightly built with graying hair and inquisitive eyes and a smile that exudes warmth.

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