Jack is hoping to make his way in the world as an artist, but when he first begins he’s not sure whether or not it’s going to succeed. One short experience with a real exhibition, however, nets him a secret admirer who can’t seem to stop writing, even if she’s too shy to actually meet him in person. But things are finally starting to turn around for Jack and he’s sure that things will work out. Between his secret admirer, Missy, Francesca and the Co-op, he just knows he’s finally broken into the world of art as a true artist. Portraits by Tom Hendricks is about artists and how luck changes all.

This book was very interesting. I was drawn into it rather quickly and I really liked the characters. They definitely have flaws and they aren’t perfect in themselves or their craft, but they seem to work well together. You get to know the main characters the best and you’re left, even at the end, wondering a little about a couple of the others (but that’s kind of the point). Missy is one of those characters you’re left wondering about, but perhaps this is one of the parts that makes the book so interesting. I wanted to keep reading and would have liked more. I enjoyed Portraits by Tom Hendricks and would definitely recommend it to a friend. This was a very well-written short novella with a good storyline.

Portraits by Tom Hendricks is the story of a co-op art group, forged out of their mutual distaste for the corporatization of the Dallas art scene. It follows three main characters, Jack Labas, Francesca (aka: Mary Wollencroft), and Missy U. The co-op itself involves artists comprised of its nine artists: Jim Dias, its leader, Harvey Carter, a landscape artist, Linda Jenson, Jim's girlfriend, Raymond Kirk, a Rothco disciple, Wendy Phillips, a still art painter, Sarah Williams, another landscaper artist, Karen Griffin, a painter of large-scale portraits, Jack, a figure painter and the main protagonist, and Francesca, a clothing designer who replaced Marty Kao, a street scene painter who leaves the co-op. Missy U is a fan of Jack's work and his ever-present pen pal, who turns out to be far more committed to his art and ultimately a saving grace to the group as a whole. The group grows and their popularity among the public expands beyond their greatest hopes, while Jack finds love with Francesca and encouragement from the shadowy Missy U.

While Portraits by Tom Hendricks does a great job of following the plight of an artist and its extension into every aspect of an artist's life, namely in love within this story, where it really shines is in its portrayal of the community as a whole. A reader gets a strong sense of the impact of art and its influence across other media and genres of life that unfurl before you, displaying its far reaching promise and the potential to impact even the most remote corners of a community. Yes, at the heart of Portraits is a love story, a love triangle, but its soul delves deeper into a layered plot that draws out a more widespread implication: that art is the axis of all things beautiful, significant, and real. With some polish and a round of good editing, the bones of Portraits by Tom Hendricks has great potential. As of the time of this review, the spelling and grammatical mistakes let it down, although do not detract from its manifesto as a whole. Highly recommended.