If you have read a few of my other stories about the paintings in the exhibit this is certainly going to be different. I painted this loose abstract landscape to deal with some of the grief I had internalized after our house fire a couple of years ago. Through my carelessness I started a grease fire in our just remodeled kitchen. I believe the foreground shows the uncertainty and difficult present in colors and tones dealing with the terrible “what if’s” I had created in my mind. What if the house had burned down? What if my wife or son had been hurt or worse? If I had stopped the painting at that point, it would display a much darker message. It is the background that shows the possibility of a brighter future, in color if not in form. My family was safe; portions of the house would be rebuilt. This painting let me drop the gnawing “what if” thoughts we often carry with us through life. 

Acrylic paint on stretched canvas. Measurements: 24 inches wide and 12 inches tall. No frame.