I’m going to talk about one of my paintings, The Clearing. It looks on the surface to be a Doctor Doolittle thing, a guy talking to animals. The animals listen intently. In my mind he is telling them that they should run for it. The area is going to be cleared to make room for the ever expanding humans.
I’ll call the fellow the omnipotent woodsman. He is at one with the creatures and nature, but has no control over the humans. Who does? They just keep coming. They always pick the most beautiful spots to move into and before you know it the places aren’t beautiful anymore. And they breed. They don’t know when to stop or even slow down a little. They don’t even seem to care if it will certainly be the end of all of them.
So the painting is really about overpopulation. I am not as well spoken or as nice a guy as Bryan Welch, publisher of Mother Earth News. His article A Vision for a Better World should be read by everyone. Personally I think that anyone who chooses to have more than two children is being irresponsible to all of earths inhabitants including their own kids.
Any way I had a lot of fun painting these animals and trying to give each one a personality. If you look at the big horn sheep he is looking you in the eye and saying “What are you going to do about this?” My favorite is the grasshopper. I have an affinity for them. I talk to them sometimes and I have seen that each one has a distinct personality, as do all creatures. If you take some time to go outside to feel the pulse and breath and life of this planet you will find you can sense how the earth itself is a living being. A being who can care for and provide for everyone, providing we don’t allow ourselves to become an infestation. When that happens she will find a way to rid herself of us.
