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Ave atque Vale |
DreamTowers |
Evening Walik |
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| Flight of the Paper Crane | The Maskmaker's Final Mask (1) | In Vitae Media |
1997, a Real Heavy Year
In 1997, I decided to focus exclusively on learning to paint. Evening Walk, an acrylic painting was the last piece I did before I started taking classes in oil painting at the College of San Mateo. If it isn't obvious to you where the Twilight Fool came from, then study the paintings very thoughtfully, and imagine seeing such things when you talk a walk around evening. DreamTowers was my first oil painting after I began taking classes. The two landscapes, Princeton-by-the-Sea and Rainy Day in Half Moon Bay were done as plein aire exercises.
Things were a little difficult in that year. My mother died of breast cancer on tax day (April 15), prompting the painting, Ave atque Vale. Then, in June, I got bacterial endocarditis, a lethal disease caused when bacteria get into your bloodstream and infect the heart. It typically affects people with artificial hear valves (I have an artificial heart valve). It also typically occurs when you don't take your antibiotics before you see the dentist; in my case, I can't blame the dentist (I hadn't gone to see the dentist yet, you see). I got it while doing yard work. Don't expect to see me doing any yard work for a while!
The painting, Maskmaker's Final Mask (1), was an attempt to describe what it's like to be nearly called home just when you're getting used to being alive.
Flight of the Paper Crane and In Vitae Media were attempts to tell about experiences or ideas that had occurred several years earlier, when I couldn't paint yet. Maskmaker's Final Mask (2) was my attempt to do a second, better version of his earlier painting. Unfortunately, the original painting (Maskmaker's Final Mask (1) if you must know) said everything the way it should be said. Also, my brain was dysfunctional when I attempted to redo the painting, so the result was horrible. It's presented here only because I believe in hiding nothing unless there's one heck of a good reason to.
Last updated on Friday, December 21, 2001