These works are an investigation of portraiture as a way of documenting and exploring my relationships with, and perceptions of, close friends and family. I am interested in the static nature and artifice of the posed portrait. By referencing early American folk paintings I seek to depict the tender awkwardness that those works exemplify. Both manufactured and factual, character traits are revealed through clothing, patterns, and props. Each accoutrement helps to suggest a particular time period for each portrait. However, I intentionally choose elements from disparate eras so that the innate nostalgia is nonspecific.