"The Masks We Wear", Oil on canvas, 30" x 40"
This painting was born from a request to do a masquerade painting after I finished the "Dia di Los Muertos" painting (a commission by the same person). She had a specific pose she wanted the woman to be in, but I could never fit a scenario in my head for the pose. Looking at masquerade photos I found one of a woman seated much like the front woman and knew that was the pose I wanted. However, she only had pasties on and I wanted to keep the painting a little more PG so I figured a feathered fan would be a good addition. After that I had to come up with the story of what was happening around her. I played with a man standing, seated, etc etc until I settled on the man leaning in the doorway. I figured it had to be a masquerade party though, so shouldn't there be more than two people? So I added the woman on the couch to do three things; 1: Indicate a party, 2: Make the front woman look less like a hooker, and 3: make you wonder what she is doing there. Now, where is this happening? I feel that New Orleans, or Paris is the place for masquerade parties so I found interior photos of Gothic Victorian homes and got ideas for that. It needed to be fairly dark, with dark reds everywhere. There is a story in this painting somewhere, but it's not me telling it. You have to make up the story yourself! I don't think it is a painting with marketability, but it's a painting I wanted to do for me, just because.