Kids leave a trail behind them wherever that go. Shoes, toys, other pieces of clothing, food, trash…it’s like a crime scene. You can try to determine what happened that day based on what was left behind. I decided to try an experiment. I began picking up these left-behinds and hiding them away to see if they ever they ever came back for them. They never did. Once they were left they were forgotten. For this painting I decided to take a bag of what was found on our floor that day and have it become the painting surface. I began by attaching the found objects themselves to a wood panel. I then prepped this panel as I would any regular painting surface. The original goal was to create a painting of our living room over the objects. The more I worked the more frustrated I became that you could still see more of the physical objects than you could of the painting of the room. It was then that I realized the foolishness and the impossibility of what I was attempting…it made as much sense as trying to keep a neat house while the kids are playing.

"An Impossible Task"
Oil, toys and assorted objects on wood panel
24"x20"
Signed
Framed