Focus on “Visitor”
If you live in Waldoboro, Maine or know someone who has booked a motel while visiting, you know that the setting of my painting “Visitor” is Waldoboro’s own Moody’s Motel. For those of you who are not familiar with it, Moody’s Motel is not just a collection of clean, reasonably-priced small cabins in the woods minutes from busy Route 1 in midcoast Maine, it is also a landmark. Likewise, “Visitors” is not simply a painting of a landmark, it is an invitation to a story.
A red pickup truck is parked outside one of the cabins in a line of cabins. It is a barely noticeable; only the back of the truck is visible. But the pickup is red, and in this woodsy scene of green, it stands out, as does the other red in the painting, the American flag on the flagpole in the distance. Both reds relate to the other.
Let the story begin!
Artist’s Notes:
First: In reality, the pickup was not red, and much more of it was visible. Rearranging and changing shapes to meet my vision is what I try out in preliminary black-and-white sketches before starting the painting. I love to take reality and make it “mine.” In this case I wanted this relatively “quiet” painting to pose many questions since I truly enjoy hearing viewers’ interpretations.
Second: The story is yours to “write.” There is no right or wrong story – it is completely up to each viewer to make one up about “Visitor.” That’s your invitation.
On view at the Heywood Gallery, 921 Main St., Waldoboro, Maine (across from the Waldo Theater) on Saturday, July 29th, from noon to 5 pm.