Devotion
2009
Oil on Canvas, 30 x 40 in
(nfs)

A portrait of my friend’s father. He had spent years making a natural mountain stream running though his property considerably more beautiful and if possible, more natural. As he grew older he spent slightly less time hefting rocks and more time just watching the progress of the water and the mosses as they grew. I had intended to put his face in so subtly that you could look at the painting for years before realising a face was there. However, in planning out the face I filled it in with flesh and then couldn’t bear to reduce it to rocks and shadows. Perhaps this reflects poor judgement, I can’t tell at this point. In the end I just had to allow the painting to be what it had become, in spite of my will. It was a lot of work and worked with a lot of love.