They say that artists must suffer. This painting is evidence of that. I will share with you the various experimental stages it went through in its “Search for Resolution”. It started its life as an abstraction. (I don’t have photos of the first two stages.) But, it seemed that all this “light from the heavens reaching down to earth” needed a focal point, or purpose. For the next attempt I painted a transparent looking box in the center, but it looked too much like a coffin, so that was eliminated. There is an artist who uses Plexiglas over his paintings and paints on the reverse side, so “I borrowed” his idea and bought an expensive 4′ x 4′ sheet of plexi and began a torturous attempt to paint President Obama, in reverse, on the plexi. (What looks OK on one side doesn’t translate to the other.) In order to mount it on to the painting, I had to drill holes all around it and screw it to the painting, which also made for a heavy piece.) At least one person liked it when it was in a show, but that person wasn’t me. I sadly removed the plexi and attempted to repair all the holes and then match the color over the repairs. Whew! I won’t go into any more detail. As you can see, there are other stages through which this artist suffered.
I asked myself, what can be the important thing to put into this highlighted space? My answer was “Bread and Water”. (This assumes that the water is not contaminated and the bread is free of pesticides.) I am not the kind of artist that draws or paints without visual aids. I set up a still life with a glass of water (What shape glass to use, and how much water?) with bread on a plate (It can’t look like a slice of Wonder bread; Maybe like a torn half of a biblical loaf). After taking many photos to guide me, this is the result. Is it resolved? I am not sure, but I think I am done!
Art with a Story 