Madness

Mixed media on canvas. 40" X 30". Click photo for larger view. $950

This is one of those paintings that took many, many, many hours to create. It was frustrating as it started out with a simple concept. A couple swirls here, a couple dots there and it should have been done. But it never looked right. I originally structured the wood at the bottom to be the bed for a sleeping woman. And was upset with the way the piece looked, at which point I took a large bottle of red paint and poured it all over. I realized at that point, that I was angry. Angry at things in my life, and I just poured the red until I had no more red to pour, until practically nothing from below could be seen, especially that ugly woman. I didn’t realize I was angry, and didn’t like the painting, and didn’t like the red. So I carefully painted white in between the red swirls, and added the golden belt buckles because they resembled golden tulips. I was happy then, because a painting that was once angry, was now calmed by the white, and the tulips represented a growth from anger. Out of every sea of madness a flower shall bloom.