Welsh Poet with a Dog, oil on canvas Brian Kershisnik (1962 -)

A portrait of Welsh poet Leslie Norris began as a request from the Norris’s neighbor. Since Kershisnik doesn’t generally do commissions — or portraits for that matter — he decided to do a piece of his own choosing with Leslie as the subject and allow the neighbors the first right of refusal. Unfortunately (for the neighbors) they did refuse the piece. Regardless, it is a charming painting so Kershisnik entered the piece into the Utah Arts Council’s Statewide Annual Exhibition back in 1994. It was juried into the show and the UAC bought the painting for the State Fine Art Collection.

Leslie and his wife, Kitty, saw the painting in a show at BYU before the Statewide Annual Exhibit, but their interest in owning the piece didn’t mature until after the Arts Council had purchased it. As Kershisnik’s fame grew, so did the number of requests from Norris and his wife to purchase the painting from the State Collection. Leslie Norris remains a good friend of the Arts Council having served as poet laureate for several years, but he still doesn’t get the painting.