Saturday Is For Art

It was 16 years ago that I first exhibited my political satire paintings at the Carnegie Arts Center in Covington, Kentucky. The date was May, 1992. Because of my interest in collecting American postage stamps, I hit upon the idea of creating my own commemorative stamps. As you all know, the U.S. Post Office issues regular postage stamps as well as commemorative postage stamps. I painted at that time only in oil and so I had to seal the paper that I used for the stamps with gesso. Here are a few of those stamps I created before May, 1992. All of the subject matter 16 years later is still in the news. Our Energy Policy and Housing this year have hit a new high. Gasoline hit $4 a gallon and so many people have lost their home to foreclosure. These issues were pressing 16 years ago, just not as pressing as they are today.

Many years ago, before photography, movie film or TV, it was the artist that told stories through pictures. Going back to the scenes on cave walls, people have tired to communicate through pictures. In the Middle Ages, when few people could read or write, paintings told stories. In that sense, my work is very traditional, I am simply telling a story or giving my opinions through pictures. Even many years ago, the great painters of Europe founds ways to inject their paintings with political or social comments. Some times it was the subject of the painting and at other times the comment was much more subtle, nevertheless, it was there. While I have shown these three paintings before, I hope you enjoy them.