Seated behind a table-length palette and in front of an easel that’s taller than she is, artist Michele Anderson is a portrait of casual elegance in a red blouse and jeans.

She’s surrounded in her studio by bookcases teeming with sketch pads and volumes about fine art, several of her own paintings, and some works by other artists. Behind her is a four-by-six window that casts a soft constant light on the canvas she’s working on.

Ms. Anderson keeps another studio downtown at Eighth and Market, but prefers to work in this one, an upstairs room in the Signal Mountain home she and her husband Brad moved into about a year ago. “When I’m not traveling, I’m here eight hours a day. Not all of it is just painting. That includes time spent getting my materials together, setting up my palette, and stretching canvases.”

At the time of this interview, she was a few days away from a trip to Phoenix to meet with a client who had commissioned a portrait. She has traveled across the country to accept commissions during her 10 years as a professional portrait artist, a profession that she sees as an extension of an interest in art that began years before.

“I’ve always drawn and painted people. It’s been a lot of hard work, but I also feel that this is a God-given talent, and I’m very happy to be able to make a living doing what I love to do. Plus, I get to stay home with my kids.”

Sam, age 11, and AnnieCate, age six, often join their mom in her studio, when they’re not helping their dad in his home-based frame shop. “It can be a little distracting, but they know when it’s time for me to work, and I’ll sometimes set up an easel for them to paint with watercolors. I’m trying to teach them to sketch, too. They’re pretty creative,” she said, pointing out one of Sam’s sketches she has on display in her studio.

Ms. Anderson loved the room that became the studio as soon as she saw it. “It was stark white when we moved in, with the north light coming in through the window. I thought it would be great to have so much constant lighting in the room, because you’re with the portrait all day, and you don’t want the light to be changing. I did have to knock down the brightness, though, to keep the glare off the canvas.”

The Andersons made some cosmetic adjustments to the rest of the house and have plans to refinish the ceilings and remodel their kitchen. “Of course I don’t have time to do any of it, so I don’t know when it will happen.”

One can imagine that creating a portrait (particularly one of Ms. Anderson’s style, noted for their lifelike quality and impressionistic backgrounds) is a painstaking and time-consuming process. She spends between eight and 12 months on each commission, from the first sitting to delivery of the painting.

“Portrait work isn’t something a person can just jump into. It takes a lot of discipline, hard work, and study. You can’t just think about it as doing a painting and making money. Each one has to be your very best because it’s something someone will treasure forever.”

Painting a portrait is such hard work, she continued, because it depicts an individual and a personality. “You have to convey an accurate likeness of the person and their character. With a landscape or a still life, you can take a measure of artistic license, but with a portrait, you have to please the client and yourself. It’s a work of love for me to recreate on canvas the human form. One of the hardest works of art you can do is a portrait, but I enjoy being able to produce one and please the person I’m doing it for.”

The individuality and timelessness of portraits are what make them appealing, according to Ms. Anderson. “I love my photographs. I adore them, but it’s a time-honored tradition to have a portrait done. It’s something that lasts, to pass down through generations. In our fast-paced society, a portrait is a special work of art. It isn’t mass-produced. You can’t have a million of it. It’s specific, unique. It’s the only one in the world.”

That’s also why it can sometimes be hard for artists to part with their work. “It isn’t so hard with commissions, but I also do still lives and landscapes as much as I can. I take my easel with me when we go places and will paint a landscape as a memory of places we’ve been. That makes it personal for me, so that there are a lot of emotions in the painting, and it would be hard to sell.”

Landscapes and still lives help broaden her skill and keep her in practice, she believes, and “artists should sketch all the time to make sure that you keep up your drawing skills.” Ms. Anderson recently enrolled in a sculpting class for further study of the human form and also keeps her skills sharp by painting portraits of her children, several of which are on display in her home. “You have to constantly practice from life. It’s very important. I paint my children as much as possible from life, to stay in practice.

For portrait artists, painting from life is now more of a luxury than necessity. “Everything is so fast-paced that people don’t have time to sit for a portrait any more. When they do, it’s wonderful, but I usually work from digital photos I make of the subject.”

Ms. Anderson studied at the Art Institute of Atlanta and with other portrait artists. “It’s always a great experience to be with artists I respect, to watch them paint, learn their techniques, and to paint with them. I enjoy the camaraderie with other artists, and there are so many wonderful artists in Chattanooga. It’s great to live in a place that’s as scenic as Chattanooga is. That’s why so many artists live here.”

By Buddy Roberts

To see more of Michele Anderson’s work, visit www.andersonportrait.com.