Sometimes there is a coming together of influence and the end product in creating a painting. Such is the case with this painting, a new piece that is an 18″ by 18″ canvas, that will be going to my next show, Toward Possibility, at the Kada Gallery in Erie, which opens November 6.
I watched a segment on The Colbert Report featuring a song, You Are Not Alone, from Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy written for Mavis Staples, the legendary R & B/ gospel singer. The two performed the song and I’ve had it in my head ever since. During the next few days, as I was working on this canvas, the sound of that song and Mavis Staples’ voice constantly seemed to be pushing this piece along. It affected how I viewed it as I was painting it and affected the determination of its endpoint, its completion. It was pretty evident to me that this piece was destined to be called You Are Not Alone.
I like the ambiguity in the title. It could represent not being alone in the obvious spiritual sense but in the human sense as well. We all share commonalities in our travels through this life although it often feels as though we are going absolutely alone down our chosen paths. It’s an important reminder that while our paths might be unique, the feelings that we experience are often the same as others on other journeys. We react as humans.
This is a very simple painting but there is a lot going on within it, as far as color and texture, that give it the needed depth to carry the mood. The feeling I carried from the song led me to keeping the composition sparse, with no distant landscape in the background and the Red Tree being the sole focus of the canvas. I wanted that pure focus in this piece and everything in it pushes the eye to that central figure, creating an atmospheric feel that carries the weight of the painting.
Okay, I’ve said enough. Here’s an acoustic version of the song with Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy. Hope you’ll see what I heard…
Jenny and I had the good fortune to be given tickets to see Mavis Staples and her talented band a few weeks ago. It was a great show. If you get the chance, go.