Mom was right

Several weeks ago, my mom mentioned to me that she was ready for me to move on to the next series of paintings… she felt that the current body of work was affecting me in a certain (not positive) way. ?I stood my stubborn ground, and was doubtful that her case held much merit. ?I now admit that she likely made a solid point. ?I have been working on these large paintings of wounded Civil War soldiers for about a year now. ?They are a series that will be shown at the Parthenon in January through May of 2015, along with some hand painted 19th century wallpaper pattern panels. ?It is an ambitious collection of work, and for whatever reason, this is how I seem to operate. ?I blame Italy and Michelangelo. ?Anyways, I have realized, that along with several other factors, the subject matter that I work with on a daily basis has begun to exhaust my capacities. ?I don’t have the white flag in my hand yet, but as the project moves into the final two months of production, I do find myself considering options that will lessen the remaining load. ?The weight is great. ?The cause is great. ?The fight is great. ?As I work on the seventh soldier (pictured here), my wounds ache.