How I choose things to paint
"Moonshine Gambler" 14x18 Oil
Old Brown Jug When I was a kid, my family wasn’t rich, both my parents worked and I was a latch-key kid before it became a popular term for kids who came home from school to an empty house. Saturday was shopping day. My Mom loved to go to second-hand stores. Inevitably she would find something she needed for the house, and the price was always right. Of course she dragged me along and what started out as a chore for me soon became a treat as time went by.
Mom always wondered what stories the things we saw could tell. She taught me to look beyond the dirt and dust that was prevalent in the second hand stores, to see the beauty and history hidden in long forgotten objects that were once held dear by someone.
The valuable lessons my Mom taught me carry over into my life now as an artist. A few weeks ago I found an old brown whiskey jug in a second hand store. The old jug was a deep rich mahogany brown that shined a smooth mellow glow in the light. I imagined a western or contemporary painting telling a story about moonshine whiskey, a gambler and a gun. And yes, I wondered what sights this thing had seen, had it really held moonshine and who might have owned it? You can see how I used the old brown jug in my western painting called "Moonshine Gambler"
No comments:
Post a Comment