It took three ish months ( I think) to complete this. The goal was to make a space that draws the viewer in. Both of the tables are mostly 3 dimensional, matching the perspective of the two dimensional space. The illusion creates a felt depth that gives the viewer room to feel like they could put themselves inside the painting.

Recently I had a realization about music, that much of the lyrical content of music is not about relating directly to the lived experience of the audience, but in creating a genre typed fantasy for the listener to inhabit. Personal example- I have never distilled whiskey in the hills of West Virginia. I have never been a’ramblin on freight trains. I’ve never shot a man down just to watch them die. There’s a whole lot of folk music that I’ve never experienced and shouldn’t relate to, but I feel deeply involved and engaged. I don’t think heavy metal listeners have ever drank blood or smote something with Thor’s hammer, and most rap listeners haven’t run a successful criminal empire. Also, I don’t think most listeners would want to do those things in real life. I knew a guy who actually did ride on freight trains, and he had to worry about getting beat up by the trains workers- it was terrifying. Music ends up being like a themed restaraunt. It’s nice to pretend, to get out of the house (or your head) and inhabit something that’s not your life, but in the end you go back to your life and that’s fine.

Is that what visual art does or should do? The answer for me right now is a strong maybe. I think the previous paragraph articulates something more or less accurate, but I’m not a hundred percent sure it’s correct. If paintings do that, this painting should do that too. It’s a cool space to be part of- it’s got cool machines, it’s got anvils, it’s a job environment to imagine being part of.

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This kind of painting is one of the hardest for me to do. Sculptures, portraits, houses, landscapes without humans- all of these are easier. Portraits, now, take five hours- this took three months. I hope that all these paintings see the light of day at the art show August 2022- I hope everyone can come see them.

Next up I’m going to be doing Braddock Farms, another house, and hopefully get some pictures for portraits. I’m hoping to do smaller portraits, too, but that’s only if I develop an additional 8 hours to tack on to the usual 24 hour day I guess. I want to make a Braddock Spaceship Sculpture and a sculpted nativity scene. A fantasy chess set. More knights killing more strange symbolic creatures. And, oh yeah, I’m still halfway through my crazy sculpture clock. Good thing there’s an enormous market for bizarre, unasked for art.