By the way he ponders the world, you would expect Evanston resident Richard Halstead to paint abstractions, not portraits.

Perched atop a stool in his cluttered studio at the Noyes Cultural Art Center, 927 Noyes St., Halstead waxed philosophical about Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, the 16th century Italian artist whose work he said possessed a quality of goodness that transcended his lawless life.

There is a “thin thread of humanity that rises above the brutality of the world,” Halstead said. He aims to capture that thin thread of goodness in each portrait he creates, he said.

Halstead is donating his latest series of paintings, which honors Evanston’s emergency personnel, to the city to be hung in the Evanston Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave. The first painting, depicting a firefighter, was unveiled at an Evanston City Council meeting earlier this month. A forestry worker, two paramedics and a police officer complete the four-painting series, which he began in 2000.

“It’s as if they’re guardian angels,” Halstead said of the city’s emergency workers. “They just appear when you need them, and you never think about them the rest of the time.”

Halstead has painted several well-known figures in his 32-year career. His portfolio includes portraits of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, the former archbishop of Chicago, and Marshall Field V, president of the retail company. He said he is also slated to paint Gov. George Ryan’s portrait next year.

Each of the paintings he is creating for the city would usually sell for $15,000, but Halstead said the donation is more than worth the monetary sacrifice.

“I don’t ever want to take these (miracles) for granted, and I don’t want other people to take it for granted,” Halstead said. “And I want these (workers) to know they’re appreciated.”

Halstead was first inspired to begin the series several years ago when a few Evanston firefighters responded to a call at the Noyes Center and happened to stop by his studio. He said he was struck by how well one of the men captured the image of the “classic firefighter.”

Halstead said he first saw the “humanness” of these so-called guardian angels when the firefighter — who eventually modeled for the first painting of the series — looked at a portrait of a female Northwestern graduate student and responded, “I think I’m in love,” Halstead remembered.

Later, when the portrait was finished, he said he knew he had done what he set out to do when the firefighter told him: “That’s good. (The painting) says, ‘I’m here to help you.'”

The firefighter painting took two years to finish, but he said he expects the last two paintings to be done in two years. The portrait of the forestry worker James Todd, a 25-year member of the Evanston Forestry Department, is halfway complete, Halstead said. Todd said he credits the city with realizing the opportunity to honor this portion of the city’s often overlooked workers.

“It makes me feel great,” Todd said. “We don’t get a lot of exposure, so we were very excited about that.”