a day with liam

“Happiness makes up for in height what it lacks in length.” -Robert Frost

And happiness is having my son Liam spend the morning in the studio with me, drawing as I paint. Sometimes I am in a moment, and it is as if I can hear my future self, straining to return to present self, to simply relive this moment again. Here’s a look at some of our works, underway.

Today was the third day of working on this painting.  It’s a really fun painting to work on.  Sometimes I just feel like delighting in the swirling vortex of reflections, it is surely the Escher side of my brain. But as well, this painting has an intentional, metaphorical side to it. It’s actually a whimsical poem, of sorts. But the content is not for me to force, as there’s nothing worse than a preachy painting- except of course a Rothko. But if I’ve done my job as the painter, the reader will discover it.

And I confess, Liam is much cooler than me. A Hess truck with a fighter jet on the back. And the second drawing is narrated as follows. “Da da, the guy on the left is me, a boy catching leaves, which are falling from the tree in winter. And that’s you and ma ma, and you’re happy.” My son is obviously well trained in classical anatomy and ecorchet- just look at Margaret’s pregnant belly.