Monday, August 30, 2010

A House Divided

A House Divided 10 x 8"

Two flags, two faces, and much too young to bear arms against each other - the heart breaking tragedy of the American Civil War that tore families apart. I started with canvas prepared with gesso and an over-all covering of cheesecloth.Acrylic paints; blue on one side and gray on the other, with a stripe of burnt sienna through the middle. The organza flags float atop period studio shots of young soldiers. A xerox copy, on parchment, of a letter dated 1862 links the brothers.


The background colours were splattered across the surface and worked into the cheesecloth along the edges. As I look into these faces, I'm mesmerized, and struck, once again, by the pity of war.

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