"Chris and a Picture of Health", 24"x 36". acrylic on canvas, 2014

February 13, 2019

"Chris and a Picture of Health" is by far the scariest piece of art I have made to date.

I meet some artist friends once a month for show and tell, critique, encouragement, conversation, and lunch. It was at one of these lunches that we were talking about a candy themed quilt I had been wrestling with when conversation moved to a Call to Art with the theme "A Picture of Health".

Well, one thing led to another and we got silly. As we got more and more absurd, this image became very clear to me and I had to paint it. Chris' last suggestion of the wax juice bottle tiara landed her name as part of the title.

So what made this painting such a scary piece for me? This is the art that is in me. This ridiculous painting came from my soul. I still shake my head, but she's hanging prominently in my studio. (Why, oh why, do we insist on fighting who we are?)

Painted Chris was supposed to have human eyes. (You may remember accuracy is the cohesive thread in my body of work.) I tried out many different eyes on her, but none worked. She really wanted these crazy, cartoon eyes with the detached lashes. So she has them.

(It's easy to wipe wet acrylic paint off dried acrylic paint if you don't wait too long.)

Alas, "Chris and a Picture of Health" was not chosen for that Call to Art, though a different piece I submitted for that contest was.

Since it is always better to work from real life, I went to the candy store and bought all the candies you see in the painting. When the painting was finished, I did the responsible thing and ate all the models. Let's just say that flavors we enjoyed as children are often best left as sweet memories.