10 Year Anniversary: The Painting Diary 18 of 30

Painting Diary 18 of 30: Seeker Unto Death and Beyond, 2016

For the second anniversary of my mothers death I decided that I wanted to honor her crazy fabulous and famous red hair. Her hair was legendary.  

While looking for photo reference I dug out an old family picture we had taken at Sears when I was maybe 6 or 7 years old. My brother an I were in matching white sweaters and slacks and were looking pretty dapper. Mom was looking really classy, sharp and beautiful. The hair was fully represented, and took up more than its share of space in the picture. A classic photo. I loved she pose, the way her hands rest on her lap reminded me of the Mona Lisa a little bit.

The photo was perfect reference for what I needed but what I really feel in love with in that old fading picture was her cheap Timex watch. If you knew her you knew she loved to be cutting edge and have the latest gadgets first. For some reason that funny little watch said so much about her. I also liked it because it seemed a little out of place in the photo, like a continuity error in a film. 

With the watch now as a major story element the painting began to evolve as I started to imagine mom as some kind of cosmic energy-being. She was a time traveler pausing for a moment in some time and place, resting on a log to renew her energy before blasting off again. A little bee comes up next to her and inspects the blackberries. The landscape, while inspired by Yellowstone could be anywhere, in anytime. On her watch is her birthday, 4:14.

Seeker Unto Death and Beyond, Oil on board, 2016