PASTORAL

I've always been taken with the artists who put a lot of detail in their work. Impressionism relies on representation to stand for detail, but I like the Masters who painted every hair on an animal, or put elaborate yet miniscule images in their work.
When I paint, I start with an old screen print that stood for cheap art in the seventies. I must cover that item before I can start my work and the way I do that is by using leftover mixed paint from another painting, bit by bit forming a layer over the original image. On this one, by accident, in the center was an image that reminded me of Salvador Dali in an officer's cap, so I set out to incorporate this in the finished painting. I always start with the background so when I put paint over it, it creates the illusion of depth. All art is based on illusion. Then I work towards the front, at the bottom adding overlapping images to create even more depth. As you draw closer in the image, more items are detailed, as you would see it naturally with your eye. So the trees in front have every leaf painted on, every blade of grass is painted on.
This used to be the magic painting when Wilbur was a baby. I would put him over my shoulder so that he faced the painting and slowly rock back and forth and in no time, he would fall asleep.