Buildings are more than a facade to portrait painter

Portrait painter Michael Till never has to worry about his subjectsgetting tired during a sitting.

Most of them already have been sitting around for about 90 years.

Till paints portraits of houses - not people. A Victoriangraystone in Lincoln Park, a red brick three-flat on the Near NorthSide and a gingerbread cottage in San Francisco are a few of hisrecent commissions.

He says it's really not strange for someone to want a portrait oftheir house.

"Buildings are the biggest investment someone will make intheir whole life," he says. "It's a reflection of their tastes andtheir aesthetic values. It's very much a reflection of the personhimself."

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