The Washington Art Association & Gallery is proud to present The Dames, an exhibition honoring artist and WAA supporter Norman Sunshine. The image Norman pursued was never just a surface portrait of an interesting woman, but one that revealed qualities reaching deeper into her psyche.

After an illness limited his ability to work at the easel, Norman turned to digital tools to explore portraiture in new ways. He photographed women he found compelling, sometimes over a meal, sometimes in his studio, and sometimes by chance. Then, he took each image on a long digital journey. With Photoshop, apps, and his mouse as brush, he painted, drew, erased, added, and transformed until he reached the image he had been seeking. The resulting portraits often revealed aspects of the sitter’s personality, sometimes even to her surprise.

The women of The Dames are remarkable in every sense: passionate about the arts, health, education, politics, family, and the not-for-profit world. They are advocates, each with a distinct style, energy, and presence that Norman found endlessly engaging. In 2015, this body of work was presented in a major exhibition at Florida’s Boca Raton Museum of Art.