Well knowing Bernard’s love of the village, I chose two young local people to be models for Bernard’s totems, the youthful spirits who accompanied him always. They would accompany the portrait in a modest exhibition proposed by the owner of La Bouffarde gallery and shop in Lacoste.

This portrait is attempt to convey the intensity of his regard and the delight in all he saw, the iron will that always kept him going beyond fatigue, his stature, dignity, his caring and a certain mischievous delight in the world, his great open spirit. I was happy that I could recognize some of this in the portrait.