This is a new painting that is going with me down to the Principle Gallery. It’s a 10″ by 30″ canvas that I call Bounty. I chose the title because there is an idealized feel to the painting, not necessarily a representation of how things are but how they might be, in a land that is rich in everything but greed. It feels like a meditation on sharing the richness of the land with everyone.
Call it an egalitarian daydream.
Egalitarian. It’s a word that has been in my mind lately. It’s not a popular word or concept these days, oddly enough. The word has evolved to a point where people think of it as another way of saying welfare state or that other dreaded word,socialism. This is unfortunate because the idea of equality, a society without classes, is such a beautiful concept and one that was one of the legs that our nation first stood on.
Of course, there was never such a place. Not in post-Revolution America or France or Russia. Aspirations, yes. Practical application, no.
Again, unfortunate. But one can dream of such a place. If it exists, I hope it feels like this…
Redtree Times 