NEW PAINTING! "Lovely Day!" 16x20" Oil on canvas.

It feels like it's been forever since I've finished a piece. You can't rush these things, you see. When you pile your plate too high with too many projects, they seem to take a lot longer to reach completion. Meep.

This piece! Is a painting based on a sketch I did some weeks back. Maybe a whole month ago. It was born of my deep inner stress, which I do my best to hide. Sometimes, a situation comes along, Coughtaxescough and you don't really want to be broadcasting the specifics of your issue, but nor do you want to be vague about your feelings. I sat for a while, worrying about our situation, worrying about the stress it caused Mikey, worrying worrying. Then I found a way to make it relatable, so that we could all have a laugh about it.

In my drawing, the balloon guy is much more daft-looking, like he's blissfully unaware of his own miring to an anvil. That, or he's overly optimistic, in spite of his personal situation.

In the painting version, I've got the balloon guy looking a bit more smug. He's either putting on a face to fool people into thinking his entire life is how it appears from the top of the water, or he's completely arrogant, and doesn't think being anchored down makes his life any less superior to someone else's. What a smug face. Lol. It makes me giggle so much.

I used the likeness of Jim Parsons, who plays/played(Is that series still going?) Sheldon Cooper in the Big Bang Theory. It came up in my search for "Weird vacuous smile" and it was perfect. Less vacuous than the original drawing, but even so.

I think we can all relate to it, I think, especially in the social media age. People are posting countless photos of themselves with filters, make-up, angles, posting about their most fun adventures, their biggest successes. It's to the point where the majority of social media seem to be a giant game of keeping up with the Joneses. Outside, we want to look like we're living the best lifestyle, but inside, we're probably all wondering how everyone else is doing it.

From above, you can't see the anchor in this painting. You see a beautiful flower, some lovely lily pads floating on the clearest water with an exotic shoulder of rock as the border. It's idyllic and peaceful. How would you know from that angle that the relaxing person is absolutely trapped?

It's simple. It doesn't really need any bells or whistles to be understood for what it is. A silly visual parable to something I think we all feel time and again.

I may add more down the road, if it's still with me down the road. Who knows. As I wrote in earlier progress reports, there is space for more, but it has to be meaningful, or at least relevant. I'm happy with it for now.

(The progress shots)

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