I started this painting back in 2005 for some friends who also happen to be habitual movers. It was originally designed to go in an upstairs hallway panel for their new home. Of course, I’d hardly had time to cut the canvas and start painting before they moved… again, leaving this panting rolled up and wallowing unloved in my studio for the past 7 years or so.
Then this past summer I had a request from a charity group to donate some paintings for a silent auction. I decided to revisit this old friend and finish it off as one of the offerings for the silent auction (I often like to have the charities decide which paintings they think would be the best fit for their auctions). Â Unfortunately, one of the risks in leaving a painting unfinished for several years is that the paint colours you started with can sometimes become discontinued, which was the case with this one. Luckily I had a bit of paint left over, but decided since one of the nice things about ethnic art, is to make sure there are imperfections in it, otherwise, it doesn’t look authentic to me.
So, you might not be able to pick up the subtle undertones of slightly different colours throughout, but they are there somewhat on purpose, due to my neglecting this poor fellow for enough time as to make his original paint tones extinct.
There is no rhyme or reason or any imbedded symbolism behind this one. I didn’t even plan it out in detail on paper as I do with the majority of my paintings. I just grabbed a pencil and sketched out some of the basics, but for the most part, I just added each design as I went along.