This classical oil painting of a sea captain was created as one of a four portrait series made during Leah's time studying the sight-size technique at the Charles Cecil Studios in Florence, Italy over the summer of 2024.  The sight size method is a portrait technique that traces its roots back to Titian and Van Dyck, later popularized by the great artist John Singer Sargent and his contemporaries. This technique requries the artist to place the image and subject side by side at a distance in order to perceive the whole scene in it's entirety. It was through the study of this technique that Leah witnessed her skills at portraiture increase by dramatic leaps and bounds. She considers this, in addition to the three other pieces painted during her time in Florence, to be some of her best portrait work to date. 
 
When painting her model, Giorgi, Leah imagined him to be a rugged ship's captain, hardened from a life of adventure and chaos on the unpredictable seas. He sits now in restless retirement, reflecting on the fantastical deeds of his life and yearning to once again step foot upon the rocking planks of his beloved ship. 'Oh Captain My Captain' is her ode to all daring wayfarers out there who long to continue to treck in to the unknown.