Description

Original name:

Re named:  Discovery (see Keith’s notes below).

Book Cover – Oils on canvas board 18″ x 30″ – FRAMED

• The Ghost Sister (2001) – Philip K. Dick Award nominee

Note from Keith:  I had a drum teacher once that said, “You’ll go far in life kid, the sooner the better”, and that was of course followed by the obligatory “ba-doom, chisshhhh” on the kit.  I never forgot that, mostly because he said it every week, but also, because it always made me smile.

Maybe it was just the way he said it.  I didn’t really think he meant it, but one never knows.  It was true, I didn’t practive as much as I should have, and I imagine he thought I was a slacker.  Warning! In-coming justification:  I wanted to play rock and roll, not study paradiddles.  Yeah, yeah, … in hindsight, I realize that paradiddles are good.  When I play rock and roll now, I use them a lot.  I didn’t realize that then because I couldn’t do them very well, but time has a way of changing things.  Given that, this painting has nothing to do with paradiddles.  It does however have something to do with finding value in things that once held none.

When I did this painting, it was with much regret.  I didn’t like the book at all and didn’t want my art associated with it.  I had objections to the story’s content.  That was a first for me, but there it was.  I went ahead and finished the painting because I had made a promise to the art director and did not want to let her down.

I didn’t like the piece because I associated it with the novel.  Over time though, I came to realize I did like the art for its own sake.  I have always liked art that makes me think about discovering new places and new things.  This one, I renamed “Discovery” for two reasons:  It’s what the painting is really about, and because I only discovered that later …