This is a painting from a couple of years ago, titled A Hard Past, part of the Outlaws series. I have been hesitant to write about this piece even though it remains a personal favorite. I use it as the wallpaper on my office computer and am always transfixed by this face.
It actually reminds me very much of my mother. I know that may not seem a very flattering thing to say but there is something in the hardened distant gaze that reminds me of Mom, sitting silently at the kitchen table with a cup of tea and her ever present Camel. She would just sit there in silence for long periods of time and I often wonder what thoughts and memories ran through her mind.
The title came from this memory of her. She had a pretty hard life- her mother died when she was three, no school beyond ninth grade, years of toiling in a factory and a long, turbulent and angry marriage to my father. I could go into detail but I don’t think she would like it, if she were still around. She liked privacy and preferred to be away from other people, a trait that I carry as well.
I could go on but I just wanted to show this piece again. I do think Mom would be okay with that…
Speaking of the Outlaws series, here’s a short video I put together with the paintings from that series along with some from many years earlier. The music is from Bill Frisell…
Redtree Times 