Love's Pain

Love endures all and holds us captive. This is an interesting sentence when considered it can be read in an innocent mindset. On the one hand it can be read from our experience of relationships that have been unhealthy and for one reason or another we choose to stay because of the notion of or interpretation of love. All the while looking at it from a perspective that hurtful relationships can lead us down a very Eridanus path. This piece was originally intended as an awareness piece for human trafficking. Through the same channel, "love" many victims of human trafficking are lured into a painful world where they are bound. As the painting progressed I realized it's not much different when we choose to stay in a harmful relationship, but this time it's our own free will.
The painting is done with some impasto texture on the background wall. Everything is else done in the traditional methods of the Italian masters with several layers starting from thin to thick. Finally the painting is varnished with retouch varnish for conservation at a later date. The painting will last many decades if not centuries.