Labor Day




I worked today, on Labor Day, painting on a relatively large piece with two figures. It was almost all done with palette knives, spreading oil paint on thickly. I will share an image of it soon. While working I listened first to Beach Boys songs, then to an excellent documentary on the band from 1999, then to interviews with the members of the band. Their story is fascinating in a number of ways. If you want to delve into an interesting American story, the Beach Boys’ story is one for sure.

Mike Love, the lead singer, spoke about his father’s work in the family sheet metal business. That likely would have been Love’s source of income if the band didn’t work out. Love spoke of his emulating his father’s hard work of providing for his family.

I was thinking of my father’s work, providing for his family, with gratitude. The image above is a detail of one of the paintings I did a few years ago, from old family photographs, of my father and his sister as children.

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