Artist seeks couple who inspired oil painting

Recognize the couple in the photo at left?

If you do, La Jolla artist Richard Warner would like to hear from you. His cell phone number is (858) 401-2463.

In a note to the La Jolla Light, Warner explained that a month or so ago, he was taking one of his walks around town, when he ran across this pair reading and sunning themselves on a bench just outside the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library on Wall Street.

“The sun was lighting their shoulders as they read. I took a quick photo, exchanged greetings with them and went on my way. The photo was so charming; they became a painting over the next few weeks,” Warner wrote.

“Now I’m curious about who they are. I do know that they’ve moved to the area in the last two years from Michigan. She was a former artist and teacher. From his hat, I’m guessing they once took an Island Hoppers tour in Hawaii. That’s it.”

Warner is betting that an astute La Jolla reader will recognize the mystery couple. Though he is not offering a reward for any information leading to their identity, he is offering his deep gratitude.

“I’d just like to contact the couple and show them their portrait because I think they’d get a kick out of it,” he said.

Warner, his wife and their two children have lived in the upper Hermosa area of La Jolla since 1991. Warner primarily paints portraits and landscapes. He is a member of the La Jolla Art Association and the San Diego Portrait Society. Samples of his work can be viewed at www.richardswarner.com.