Monday, March 19, 2012

Satirical Painting: the Center of Our Universe

    I occasionally enjoy painting a good satire, and three weeks ago the urge to create one coincided with the need to decorate a room for my two-year-old grandson's visit to our home. Earlier, I had painted the room where he sleeps bright yellow and sketched the beginnings of a mural: A cow holding onto a clock joyfully danced across the wall in vine charcoal. 



    But because Titus doesn't often visit for extended periods, I didn't want to make the room for children only. Besides his interest in cows has waned recently and he is already adopting the family and national addiction: sports. He loves balls. Every ball. Any kind of ball. He begs anyone in sight to "make a hoop" so he can shoot a ball through the circle formed by arms.  

    I wiped the mural off the wall.

    Making a quick trip to Jo Ann's Fabrics, I grabbed four yards of fleece printed with basketballs, soccer balls and footballs, fringed the edges as a finishing touch, and tossed it over his bed. Adding a couple of pillow shams in the same fabric proved simple.  
    
   Then I created a painting to match. I was afraid Titus wouldn't like it, but he did. Numerous times he asked to accompany him  to the "basketball bedroom" so so he could find and point to each ball in the painting.

    The canvas is a four foot by five foot gallery-wrapped acrylic titled The Center of Our Universe

    Does it make you smile?