Someone recently asked if I ever paint anything dark. I thought he meant dark colors. “Dark Colors?” I asked, needing clarification. I looked back thru some older stuff- there wasn’t anything in the grey or brown or navy blue family. Mostly I paint in primary colors, most things are bright and cheery. Suppose that’s my style. I like to paint with “happy” colors in the same way I do not like to paint landscapes. I tend to paint things that are either abstract/industrial or that appear as illustrations.
The next question caught me off guard. It was something like “no, I mean subject matter. Do you ever paint anything gloomy or dark?” Feeling defensive and misinterpreting the question to mean “do you ever paint anything “real”” I quickly said “do you mean to imply I don’t paint things that are real? Like real emotion? (now I didn’t say this next part-but I thought it…”cause I got your “real” everything I paint-is “real”! Can I help it that I tend to see humor in things even in moments of despair? Is it my fault I am artistically speaking anyway little Mary Sunshine??? I do not apologize for my soul filled with nonsense and hope! When I paint-I paint with meaning…most often for another person and from my heart. Take for example the OU painting I did for my Dad last Christmas…No, the subject isn’t deep or dark but it was something important to him so I took it very seriously-and I REALLLYYYY felt proud to do it for him. Or what about all those “silly paintings” I did in March last year? Hu? I mean, every…. Single….. morning I got up and was “REAL” about my commitment to paint. I was REAL about selling those paintings for the Kenyan Orphans…and I was REAL about how tired I became mid month and anyone who knows me can attest to that. And though many of the paintings were of course illustrations-simple subjects-cartoonish even…they were REALLY part of me…does that not count???? I mean I am no Edgar Allen Poe-if that’s what you are asking…you won’t catch me painting gloomy skies and ravens but…I AM REAL!”) Again, I didn’t say one word of that-it was just a quick thought. Nothing major. I’m totally breezy you know. While I can assure you the question was harmless and not meant to challenge me as an artist in any way..it did sort of get to me.
Inspired by the question at hand and actual events….I have decided I will paint out a few recent sketches in a series I call “Mending”. The first is titled “Reason” The color scheme is still not “dark” and the overall message is not that of “gloom” or “despair”(sorry Poe fans), but it is “real” as real as the nonsense the silliness and the hope that fills my soul.
