The Birth & Journey of One Little Painting

"Messenger" oil on canvas 40"x40"

 

These two paintings are recent oils.  "Have you Looked Outside?" was created first.  I liked the idea of being in your home and looking out the window at the backyard, and seeing birds flying off into a cool sky which was reflected in a small pond or puddle.  There's crazy unrealistic shadows which divide the lawn, making for an interesting composition.   

"Messenger" came after "Have you Looked Outside?".  Sometimes one painting leads to another.  "Messenger" has a white dove in the window, which has connotations of the spirit and heavenly travel.  The telephone pole continues the travel idea, in my mind.  The furrowed rows off to the right draw the eye up into the distance.  There is a sense of mystery in the open doors, like what's inside there?, and do I really want to explore this building?  Usually I don't describe what's going on in my work, because each person brings there own ideas when looking at paintings, but who knows, maybe I'm getting better at describing my work the older I get.

"Have you Looked Oustide?" recently sold from my studio.  Funny how things work out.  This painting was in a gallery in New Hope, PA for six months.  During that time none of my work sold, so the gallery owner asked me to pick up my work and then removed me from their website.  Disappointing, but something some artists have to deal with all the time.  Anyway, I'm happy the person who ended up buying this painting has it in their collection.  Surprisingly they already had several of my paintings and I didn't know it due the other paintings being sold at a different gallery and I had not received their name.  When they came into the studio and said they had work of mine and they loved it, I was kinda floored!  It was a nice surprise to have met this person and heard how thrilled they were with my work.

So, it just goes to show ya, you just never know!  These incidents are what keeps you going, a little shot in the arm for the crazy artist!