Totem

Totem oil/canvas 16 x 12 x .5 Like many grandparents, we have been sorely missing our dear ones during the pandemic. Technology saves the day with Facetime! Our children have been terrific about keeping in touch. We find ourselves caressing the screen as if to touch them. I have been snapping shots of them during these conversations, at first just to grace my computer and phone screens. My work had been uninspired since the beginning of the lock-down and I found myself lethargic....when, in the past, there were more subjects presenting themselves to my brain than I had time to paint. So.................I decided to paint a series of portraits taken during Facetime chats. The lighting is poor....and the pose is conversational rather than relaxed. "Totem" is the first of these. It is also inspired by the wonderful totem photos that my partner takes....this involves taking beautiful landscape or lakeside reflective photos and rotating them 90 degrees to convey a Rorschach-like image, sometimes scary but always interesting. My goal here was to let the images melt into the totem-like-effect, allowing a bit of freedom in the interpretation. This is very difficult when the subjects are your dear ones. And so, perhaps I was a bit timid in this portrayal, but I am happy.