This piece came about as a result of being contacted by a fan of my work who expressed an interest in being captured in one of my pastels. While most of the men in my works had been fantasy creations at this point (and still are), I thought I'd give it a shot and create an illustration around his image. He had been featured in a popular gay magazine as 'man of the year'. So I thought, doing a painting of someone who had a bit of notoriety would be good exposure for me and my art, which is also why I agreed to pay him a percentage of the sale of the original. Part of his story is that after being outed to his family by his brother, he was subsequently disowned. While a traumatic experience rather than a pleasant one, the process of coming out does provide a sense of relief and inner peace, no more hiding and denying who you are, or living in fear of exposure. In an ironic addendum to the previous sentence, the subject later requested that I delete all references to him. So I never got the benefit of that exposure. Today his business bio mentions 'a lavish jet-set lifestyle and active social life'. Glad he's doing well financially, though it's odd to see someone go from finally being out and proud and shouting it from rooftops, being in a magazine, having your self painted to covering it all up again. And it's not like a gay man in his chosen field or locale would be unusual or scandalous in the last 20 years.