First painting in "?" series

20'' x 24''
Oil on Canvas Board

Greetings everyone,

I'm please to annouce the completion of the first painting in the series titled "Life is like a pandora's box of pesky question marks."

(click on the image above for an extreme closeup)

Life is a series of continuous questions which must be answered and can rarely be ignored. Somehow I want to paint those experiences. I've started the series by illustrating what my questions are:

- Stop painting? (yes I think about pretty frequently)
- Seek career advancement or settle where I am?
- Cut my hair?
- Take a nap or find the energy to do what I have to do?

There never seems to be enough time in the day to paint or draw. That's really due to a lack of time management but hey, I have a full-time job and try to have a life outside of work. Because of those time consuming elements of my life, it's hard to complete a painting. There are a couple pieces that I've started over the past couple years but either get bored with them or lose momentum and they get hidden away. So I do think about satisfiying the artist side by going to more galleries/museums and putting the paints away. I show that by painting a broken glass with a liquid spilled around and a brush broken in half (the latter to illustrate frustration).

I've been at my current company for nearly 4 years. Not bad for a first run out of college, but I need a change of scenary. Therefore I've made the decision of applying to grad school for next Spring '08 and looking for a new job (if you happen to know of any positions in market research, let me know!!) I can certainly stay at the company for a couple more years, but that would stunt my growth. There's a dark chair facing the right which symbolizes staying where I am. Then there's a yellow chair facing the viewer and a winding staircase. Those stand for making a move forward and upward.

As for the hair, it can be distracting at times. Sure I get compliments but it'll be interesting to see it short. Yet, I'm afraid I won't like it and that it would take forever and a day to grow back (if it will). So for now, I'm not going to take the risk.

Oh, it's so hard to resist taking a nap. I can probably take a nap any time of the day or night and probably any place. Perhaps it's due to an iron deficiency but I love sleeping. I also get tired after having a big or medium meal. So when it comes to doing projects for myself, ie painting or looking online for a job, it's hard to stay awake enough to make progress. It can be done, obviously, but it's always a battle, hence part of the painting of the slept-in bed with a calendar overlay. We can't get days back, just have to make the most of the days we have left.

The colors used were just what I felt like using. Since the question marks are yellow, I wanted to include that color in other areas of the painting (piece of glass, a pillow, a pair of scissors, a chair). Doing this helped the color be a little less dominating all concentrated in the middle.

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I'm now looking for ideas for the next piece in the series. If you would like to help me with that, I ask that you reply back with 4 questions you would like me to illustrate. In addition, I want you to recommend 4 colors you would like me to use.

Thanks for your continued support and look forward to your feedback.