Every once and a while a project comes along, one that is so undeniably exciting, one that when you finish and look at you are so excited. The excitement can't be contained and like a agitated bottle of champagne it just kind of bubbles over. That is exactly how I would describe the canvas I just painted for my best friends first son.
It is wonderful. Bright colors, and activity. I love it. I'm usually quite responsive to criticism but on this one I'm not by any means. I don't know if it complex in a simple way or that its simple in a complex way, or even that its just plain simple and that's what makes it so great.
It is not some great master piece, probably not even something he'll have forever, however I think its wonderful. Granted the first thing my father said when he saw the preliminary sketch and the first thing my sister said when she saw the final product was that the "k" was backwards and that isn't that teaching him wrong. It being backwards is the point. Artist don't explain their work, artists don't explain their work, artists don't explain their work. No matter how many times I play this litany over and over in my mind I still have the overwhelming desire to explain my work.
The thing about this painting is that it is overly simple, almost naively so. Nothing screams juvenescence like backwards "k"s. but the beauty of it is that even when kids are painting skies blue and suns yellow they are also painting elephants orange, giraffes blue and lions green. That's the beauty of it, it's not a painting for an adult, it's a painting to hang on the wall of a nursery, a painting for a child, a painting to appeal to a child. If Jackson starts writing his "k"s backwards, then so be it, he won't be the first nor the last.
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