It’s All a Dream
It started in March of this year when I hunkered down like most people in the country. Looking at the positive aspects of quarantining, I discovered the freedom of no time constraints, no thoughts or worries about selling or being criticized, and the time to do whatever I wanted, expose myself and my dreams.
Researching paintings by artists from periods I always gravitate towards, I came across a painting by Jean Lecomte du Nouÿ (French, 1842-1923), A Eunuch’s Dream, 1874. This painting became the starting point; the rest was about layering all my own imagery and creating my own story, drawn from my travels and from my last series of paintings: Erotic Fruit. One Man’s Dream (oil on canvas, 60”x52”) is set in the countryside of Tuscany, near where I stayed. The chaise, the columns, the period female character, the fairy, even my cat, are all part of my library of images. It is also a self portrait: revealing myself in my own work. I decided to throw everything I had into these paintings: large, bold, no restraints.
The second painting, Dream, Recanati in the Marche, (oil on canvas, 60”x32”) depicts the home of the famous romantic Giacomo Taldegardo Francesco di Sales Saverio Pietro Leopardi, an Italian philosopher, poet, essayist, and philologist. I visited the town and toured his home which is now a museum. One of his poems features oranges and that brought me back to my Erotic Fruit series. These are very personal paintings and the result of five months of artistic freedom.