Portrait Paintings
You’re looking for a better way to mark important moments in the life of yourself and your loved ones.
You’ve seen the way portrait paintings capture something intangible that tells a different story than photography. There’s a timeless quality that seems to reach into the past and the future simultaneously.
It’s more layered, more nuanced.
Maybe you have portraits and art in your home already or you’re looking to start building your collection.
You’re not looking for something flashy and shout-y.
You’re looking for something sensitive, thoughtful, quietly powerful.
You want to capture an emotionally significant moment, whether it’s for yourself, or for a loved one.
Honouring the stories of people’s lives, whether they are 3 or 93, is what I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid.
(Yep, I was a weird kid.)
I never cared about the big mythology paintings in art history books – I fell in love with the portraits, these paintings of people long gone but somehow still with us.
I remember learning about the National Portrait Gallery in London when I was 11 and dreaming of having my work in there one day.
This work has always called to me.
Grace, dignity, sensitivity:
these are my guiding principles
I believe in portraits as a vehicle for more than just status and vanity.
They are a rich, nuanced way to capture the complexity of who we are as people, telling more than just the story of our achievements, but sharing our strength, kindness, courage and character as well.
Our accomplishments are so much more than just the highlights reel – it’s about the journey we took to get there, the ways we grew and the obstacles we overcame.
I see portraiture as a way to honour all of you.
There are very few ways to effectively commemorate and celebrate our lives and the lives of our loved ones, in a way that lives with us every day.
Our phone camera rolls are packed but rarely looked at.
Videos don’t get pulled out and watched because who has the time?
Photography is wonderful but tells a different kind of story. It captures moments, but is limited to what’s in front of the lens.
Portrait paintings live beyond the three dimensions we are limited to. They are the creation of their own world.
They stretch time and imagination, carrying layers of nuance and meaning.
They tell a richer, deeper story, going beyond the surface and weaving together the threads of our lives.
Portrait paintings live with you, every day: reminding you of who you really are, what you’ve overcome and the legacy you’re leaving behind.
I wanted to capture my daughters at the height of their beauty in a unique and memorable way.
I told Sarah at the time, there were so many ways that this might not have worked out, but the whole process was wonderful and the outcome completely satisfying. Looking at my daughters’ portraits makes me feel proud of my daughters and proud to have had them painted.
Charles H.
It’s easy to put portraits off. The stories of our lives feel like they’re always waiting there for us.
Portraits do not feel urgent – until they are.
The number one thing people say to me is, “I wish I’d met you 10 years ago.”
People of nearly every age say that to me. (Which means there’s no ideal age to have a portrait painted but almost everyone wishes they’d done it sooner.)
The days and years slip by us so quickly. The important moments in our lives can feel like they passed us by while we were blinking.
Don’t let a portrait be a last minute panic. Tell the stories that matter today, because life is shorter than you think.
Selected Portfolio
Packages & Pricing
8” x 10” Cameo Portrait
Single sitter
head & shoulders
simple background
Oil on custom made archival Belgian linen panel
$4500 (+ applicable taxes & shipping)
Payable in 4 installments
Timeline: 2 months
12” x 16” Cameo Portrait
Single sitter
head & shoulders
simple background
Oil on custom made archival Belgian linen panel
$6000 (+ applicable taxes & shipping)
Payable in 4 installments
Timeline: 3 months
16” x 20” Cameo Portrait
Single sitter
head & shoulders
simple background
Oil on custom made archival Belgian linen panel
$8000 (+ applicable taxes & shipping)
Payable in 4 installments
Timeline: 4 months
For other sizes, multiple sitters, or detailed backgrounds, please inquire about a custom package.
I often have a 3-6 month waiting list. If you have a firm deadline, please enquire 8-12 month in advance so I can ensure that I’m able to accommodate your timeline.
Booking 2026 – Limited Spots
I am currently booking portraits for 2026 and I only take 8-10 portraits per year. If you’re ready to capture the milestones that matter with the depth and nuance that they deserve, I’d love to work with you.
To inquire about a portrait, please fill out the form below.
How It Works
Step 1: Collaborating on the vision for the painting
“Sitting for Sarah is entertaining and relaxing; conversation goes everywhere and the time passes quickly.”
My process is highly collaborative and dedicated to telling the kind of story you want to tell. We can play with background, clothing & costume, lighting, and more: whether you want a subtle, intimate portrait or something playful and bold, this process is about exploring the kind of legacy you want to leave behind.
First, we discuss your vision: who will I be painting or drawing? Is it a gift for someone else? A surprise? Something for yourself?
We start to think about size and scale as well – where will it hang? Are we creating something intimate and personal or are we going for a bolder statement piece? Will this piece eventually be gifted to children or grandchildren?
Local Clients (Ottawa, Ontario)
If you’re local, my preference is to meet with you in person and take my own reference photos.
I have a gorgeous historic North-light portrait studio in Sandy Hill near Laurier House, where we can meet to discuss your vision and take the reference photos we need.
If our schedules allow it, I often do a small sketch from life while we’re chatting and possibly a colour study.
Sitting for a portrait is fun and informal – it’s not staged like a Walmart family photo session. It’s more like coffee with a friend. This allows me to get to know the person I’m painting and really infuse their character into the portrait.
National & International Clients
If you’re not local to Ottawa, we can still work together!
I am happy to travel to you (travel fees apply) or work together virtually to either find the best reference photo you have on hand or figure out how to create it.
Or maybe you have a photo that you’re dreaming of using for a painting and we can work together to create something beautiful from that, whether you want a faithful interpretation or merely want to use it as the jumping off point.
All of the paintings shown here were created using client’s photos as the starting point.
Step 2: Creating the painting
Once we’ve finalized reference materials, I’ll proceed to the next step.
1. The first step is a colour study for you to approve, to make sure we’re on the same page in terms of colour and value. This will give you a good sense of the “atmosphere” of the painting.
2. Then I’ll create a simple drawing that is the foundation for the painting. Once you’ve approved this stage, I’ll begin the painting itself.
3. The next stage is the underpainting, a thin brushy “roadmap” of the final painting. Once you’ve approved this, I’ll proceed to the final layers of the painting that people tend to recognize as what they expect a painting to look like.
4. Every portrait evolves over dozens of hours: the average amount of time to complete a client portrait is 150 hours. The piece is built up over 3-4 layers, with each layer adding more detail and character.
Most portrait paintings take about 3-6 months to complete, depending on size, complexity and pigment drying time (reds are notoriously slow drying).
If you have a particular deadline you want to meet, I recommend you get in touch with me 12 months in advance as I usually have a waiting list and can’t meet last minute requests. This allows me to schedule you in with plenty of time to meet your deadline.
Booking 2026 – Limited Spots
I am currently booking portraits for 2026 and I only take 8-10 portraits per year. If you’re ready to capture the milestones that matter with the depth and nuance that they deserve, I’d love to work with you.
To inquire about a portrait, please fill out the form below.
About Sarah Marie Lacy
I’ve always been drawn to portraiture and people’s faces. I am endlessly fascinated by the human body in all of its intricacy and grace.
Growing up, it was the portraits in art history books that I first fell in love with – people’s stories and lives looking out at me centuries later.
But those stories are also limited in their scope. While there are exceptions, for most of history, portraits were used to tell just a few kinds of stories.
Portraits are about legacy, but I want to stretch that definition beyond merely “status symbol”. I want your portrait to leave the legacy of your journey, to share the wholeness of your character.
I want to tell new kinds of stories. I want portraits to be inclusive, subversive and dare I say it – a little bit radical. I want to break portraits out of their tiny pigeonhole and invite the whole world in.
I want to honour the lives of those of us who have been historically left out, whether because of gender, race, social status or the thousand other ways people were excluded.
If you think “A portrait? Me? Really? But I’m not [fill in the blank]” but the idea intrigues you, then you’re exactly who I’m talking to.
We all deserve the dignity of having our story told. None of us is boring. We all contain a lifetime of depth in our faces.
If you’re looking for slick, flashy and ostentatious, you won’t find it here.
If you’re looking for rich, meaningful, intimate storytelling that honours you as a whole person, then you’re in the right place.