Regret or Reflection

Ritual, 2003, Acrylic on Canvas

When I was in college, I hung out at Espresso Royal, both Dinkytown and Downtown Minneapolis. It was a time of big coffee mugs that also served as soup bowls and big Doc Martin boots. While this piece looks little like me, or what I envision "me" to be... it represented the inability to share that table with another person, even when there's a chair on the other side. 

Looking back at my painting style, and its development over time, I find this painting interesting, because I played with layering that will some day show up in my work someday. At this point in time, I felt self-taught as a painter and in 2D composition. I knew I had a lot to learn, but it was the more likely medium of choice, because I did not have a place to sculpt in metal. 

This piece stays in my home, because it still speaks to me. It reminds me that each point in time was pushing me where I am right now... or where I'm meant to be. I often thought this piece was about regret, but now I know I regret nothing... so now, it's about reflection.