Bone Painting

As I continue to diverge in my work I find such pleasure in the unexpected. This particular piece was one such unexpected pleasure. For the lovers of my colorful vibrant swirling work - fear not - these are parallel concurrent divergences. The bone painting marks the beginning of a new path much like the black and whites did. This is certainly a very different aesthetic!

So much is conveyed in this piece - it is like a shroud or swaddling or bedsheets or something. It is as if something has been un-tombed. The bones lie in stark contrast to the softness of the "sheets." They seem somehow cradled and held in a careful, yet carefree manner. The sheets seem to move and flutter as if moving through the air. It is life and death and sleep and care - the hardness and longevity of bone against the softness and fleetingness of textiles carried by wind or tossed off a bed. The imagery is both haunting and beautiful. For me, it is the simultaneous horror of finding bones in one's sheets and the sacredness of beholding some holy relic.

The bones are from a goose I found while teaching outdoor science to a group of school children in Upstate New York. "You never know what we'll find!" I would say, "when you think you've come and seen it all - there is always one more thing." That is how I hope this piece and many of my pieces are viewed. That when one has been satiated with an image - I hope there is always one more idea spurned, or one more detail illuminated. With that we'll never suffer boredom.