This old painting has a rather serendipitous journey. It is on a very cheap canvas, and is much the worse for wear. There is no cleaning possible, other than digitally.
I did this at age 12, I had been doing art since I was maybe 6. I was encouraged by both my mom and my grandma. My dad was not totally indifferent, but not much interested either. He spent all his time tending to the family café and bar, and his flowers and plants. And fishing.
There are no people in this “town” simply because I had not yet really learned to draw people. That came about when one Christmas I received a present of “The Visible Man, and later, “The Visible Woman”. These are still available. I also received a wooden human form that could be positioned in various ways, as well as a modeling clay set. Once I realized and learned how the human form was put together and what perspective was, I became fascinated with the human body. I got into photography after I discovered an old bellows camera in our basement. I eventually got a second-hand enlarger and the trays and chemicals to do my own developing in B&W. My 3 sisters were human guinea pigs, but they loved pretending they were fashion models and art models. My mom was very good at drawing fashion, and she had been raised being very comfortable with the human body, we all had no qualms about nudity. It’s a shame so many people are taught to be embarrassed by it or that it is somehow bad. Having grown up around 4 aunts, my mom, and 3 sisters, I did not see women or girls as alien, unknowable creatures.
But back to the painting. That painting went on a very long and winding trip. From long-lost childhood artwork stashed somewhere in the basement of my childhood home (long ago torn down), to a thrift store in Seattle Washington where I discovered it as an adult. I guess art finds its way home.
