Ravenous Creature

I knew when I “finished” this painting the first time (actually, I think this is the fourth incarnation of this piece) I really wasn’t done with it. It sat in the hall catching my disapproving gaze every time I passed by. The deep, cobalt blue ground was to reddish- especially with all the pinks. It was just to hot- and to simple.

So- finally- I got back to it starting with a deep teal green background to cool the whole mess down . Then got to work building worlds within worlds. Ultimately the additions took almost as long as the original painting did- from scratch. The final piece is pretty grotesque- but we are living in grotesque times- and it’s about to get a lot worse.

A grasping hand is tempted with a bunch of grapes kept just out of reach. The turquoise, bird-like creature with an upside down pot for a hat in the upper center is a Heironymus Bosch reference from “The Garden of Earthly Delights”.