Paul Simon (no, not that one) finds his muses in the elderly people he drives

The woman's brown eyes glare right at you. Her skin is rough and wrinkled. She has a smirk on her face as if to tell you she knows much more about the world than you do.

Paul Simon — the Wilmington resident, not the singer — stares right back at her. He's not quite done with her yet. He plans to just add a few more details before the pastel portrait is complete. 

"I have trouble finishing," he admitted. "I never want to overdo it."

The portrait of the older woman is one of the pieces Simon will show starting Nov. 3 at Blue Streak Gallery In Trolley Square — the first time he will show his work in public. 

A recently retired research biologist, Simon has painted as a hobby throughout his adult life. But it wasn't until he began volunteering as a driver for Jewish Family Services that he found his constant source of inspiration.

Senior citizens.

"I just find their faces to be interesting," he said. "There's beauty in it."

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Last year, Simon, 66, quit his job at the biotechnology company Immunome and began looking for ways to volunteer. About 25 years ago, he had helped Russian refugee families assimilate in America through Jewish Family Services and figured the group would still welcome help.

The organization recommended he volunteer for its Brandywine Village Network. That group needed people to provide transportation for senior citizens who still lived independently but had given up driving. His job would be to help them run errands or take them to their doctors' offices.

The more seniors he met through driving, the more inspired Simon was to paint, a pastime he now has more time for. 

"They have very expressive, interesting faces, so the connection came automatically," Simon said. 

Now, when he's not driving his new friends, Simon is likely painting them at his home in Brandywine Hills.

In his studio, located in the basement which he shares with his cat named Cat, dozens of portraits hang on the walls. Some are framed for the upcoming gallery show. Many have been stored. 

He doesn't use typical white canvas. His subjects' face takes up most if not all of the textured black paper he paints on. The seniors are often looking away or to the side, as if they're remembering something. Their wrinkles are accentuated and the dark circles and bags under the eyes are visible. 

They are never smiling, which Simon prefers.

He works off of iPhone photos he's taken of the seniors who agree to be his subject. He wants the paintings to look spontaneous and candid. Smiling can look contrived, he said.

Each piece usually takes Simon two to three hours over the course of several days.

He admits some pieces have gotten mixed reactions from the seniors he's painted. Some don't like looking at themselves at this point in their life, he said. They often focus on the wrinkles and don't like them.

"My point is not to be flattering in this style," he said. "It’s what I feel like doing with it."

Ellen Bartholomaus, owner of Blue Streak Gallery, has known Simon for years through his wife Connie Simon, an artist whose work has often been displayed at Blue Streak. She learned of Simon's volunteer efforts when she bumped into him at a movie in May. He was with Judy Director, an older Wilmington resident.

The friendship made her curious, so she asked him about it months later and discovered how his friendship with seniors had led him to use his talent for portraits. 

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Bartholomaus said Simon's work is much different from the portraits she's previously shown at her gallery. Most of those feature beautiful women or muscular athletes, not people close to 100 years old, she said. 

"The concept or the vision of artists is often just about making pretty pictures," she said. "But he has a concept of making people visible. He gets to know them and captures their spirit. They're close up and making a statement.

"He's seeing people." 

Simon's paintings will be at the gallery and on sale from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, Bartholomaus said. She plans on donating part of any proceeds to the Jewish Family Services program. 

Simon's wife, Connie, said it's been nice to watch "him do the things he likes to do" this past year. Although she's an artist, the couple doesn't talk too much about their work. They have different styles — Connie's pieces are geometric abstract —  and don't want to influence each other's paintings. 

"I'm proud of him," she said. "He's got a lot of new things going in his life."

Director and Simon have developed a close friendship in the months he's worked as a volunteer driver. At first, they only saw each other when he drove her to doctors offices and grocery stores. But now, Simon says they see each other or talk on the phone at least a couple times a week. 

An avid collector of Chinese art, particularly ceramics and antiques, Director has to carefully plan her outings. Her time is constricted by her oxygen tank, which needs to be recharged every two hours. It makes it difficult to visit museums and the opera. But Simon has helped make those trips much easier — and fun. 

He's painted Director a couple times in the past year and plans to use one of the paintings in his show. While Simon felt Director was an obvious muse, the senior said she was caught off guard at first. 

"I was somewhat flattered," she said. "I am really, really old."

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She plans on visiting the show's opening on Friday, Nov. 3, and Simon is likely to escort her. She's excited to see the other paintings and art.

Director said Simon isn't the first artist to paint a portrait of her. She has several from over the years and jokes that she might prefer the paintings from her youth. 

"Well, of course," she said. "Who wouldn't. There's no wrinkles on those."

Contact Meredith Newman at (302) 324-2386 or at mnewman@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @merenewman.

If you go

Simon's portraits will be shown at Blue Streak Gallery, 1721 Delaware Ave. in Wilmington, from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31. The show's opening will be from 5-8 p.m. on Nov. 3.

The artist's work will also hang in the entrance gallery of Temple Beth Emeth, 300 West Lea Blvd. in Wilmington.