Earth Day Painting--"The Protester"

My idea for this painting was to mix the idea of a night sky city landscape (along with the inherent "light pollution") with something dark lurking in the city and yet at the same time an obvious present hope.

The "protester" raises a flower in revolt and the flowers and protester are both "tagged" as a contrast to the brush strokes of the rest of the painting.

The faceless protester allows for the art to take on the "everyman" context.

The glob in the upper left quarter of the painting was an accident that got on the canvas during storage. Instead of scraping it off, I left it to chance. Consequently, the "glob" very much took on the form of a seagull which reminded me of the seagulls that used to circle the landfills in the San Francisco Bay Area where I grew up. They were always at the beach as well.

In cities close to me, like Detroit, this painting makes more sense. The urban decay, waste, packs of wild dogs in the city, and potholes that swallow whole cars on the freeway are not encouraging. But, hope is not lost.

I still believe the church, The Bride--through Jesus--is the hope of the world. I do believe in change. I do believe in things turning around. The protester then becomes somewhat of a "voice crying in the wilderness." Standing "for" something rather than standing "against" everything.

Jesus came that we might have abundant life.

This post is part of the weekly creative collection on arts/culture known as Watercooler Wednesday. Check it out here.