the Painting Activist

8″ x 10″ oil on masonite
Not for sale.
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Last fall, I was a guest artist at a Houston community center for ArtBridge. The nonprofit organization offers art programs to homeless children as a much needed emotional outlet. I was given free reign and decided to have the children replicate what I do, with an emphasis on portraiture. My explanation to them of my work went something like this:

“I paint people doing good things. Sometimes their work is very hard (ie CASA) and it can make them sad. Then sometimes they get to do things that make them very happy. I make art of all of it.”

The objective was to have them take the opportunity to embrace whatever emotions they were experiencing and capture it in a portrait. Attention spans were short and I may not inspired any Van Goghs, but we had fun and let off some steam. I think I got the most out of the lesson by being reminded, once again, that in spite of what hardships people face, they can be surprisingly happy. Huge smiles were in abundance.

This portrait is clearly one of my happy expressions. I love painting people I love, so creating this piece was as great as sand between my toes (a good thing for me) or chocolate cake. I hope that my one time instruction helped the disadvantaged children realize the power of artistic expression. This is powerful stuff!

I will soon be formally announcing an opportunity I’ve been afforded that takes my ArtBridge experience to a whole new level. I’m incredibly excited, but you’ll have to wait to hear about it until I get approval from the powers that be.