Ashes Takes a Break 22" x 28" oil on gallery wrap canvas

This project took me a bit longer than usual to paint. I borrowed the coat, hat and boots from the local firehouse a few weeks ago. I set them up in the corner of my studio in an interesting position but it just didn't speak to me for the longest time. I could not summon up the interest I needed to have to do a good job on the painting. Part of the problem was surely the large size of the canvas and the fact that I had failed in my last two efforts with works this size. In fact, this painting was painted over the remains of cowboy Jim, who just never quite made it to a place I felt comfortable with. That's one good thing about a painting; if you get tired of it you can quickly turn it into something else and start over with a clean slate. A painter has complete control over the canvas and the we are the masters of their destinies. This is completely the opposite of real life, of course, where you have absolutely no control over other people and circumstances. I may be over-analyzing this but to me it seems painting is a form of escapism. But if you can make money escaping from the daily realities and problems inherent in life and you really enjoy it too, why not?
This was a very hard painting to photograph. Everything wanted to turn blue and I had to really adjust the image in Photoshop to make it look as it should. I'll be giving the firemen down at the hall a framed print as a way of saying thanks.