This painting was featured in a hard-covered book entitled I Remember Roscoe by Robert Hull, and the author’s focus was on describing pageants, historical reenactments, festivals, and the accomplishments of those who lived and worked in Ohio. The chapter describing me and my work is entitled “Paintings from the Heart.” At one time, most libraries in the state included at least one copy of this book in their collection.
I borrowed the background elements from the Genesee Depot estate of a patron of mine. Rudy, the young buck, came when called by name. The swans were symbolic. Although I never reveal symbolic elements in my paintings, I’ll break the code for you this one time. The stiff-necked swan is “yours truly,” while the one with the submissive neck is my wife-for-life. Other symbols include the natural lavender iris with its implied beautiful fragrance, the cloth poppies dropping from Mary’s hand, and the printed myriad of blossoms on the bodice, midriff, and hem of her dress. All of these were a mind-boggling challenge to paint.
Mary posed for this portrait in her dining room, at the class I was teaching at the Cooper School of Art in Cleveland, and also in my Lakewood apartment studio, as the author represented in his book. This painting, completed in 1981, challenged me to represent the highest level of aesthetic and natural human-in-nature realism I had ever yet accomplished.
One day I received a call from Bob Hull. He wanted to purchase the completed painting, and I reluctantly agreed to its sale. The day after writing the check, Bob called me again, stating that he felt bad about acquiring the painting because he thought it should belong to Mary. I was instructed to gift the portrait to Mary, which I did. Several years later, when Mary moved, the painting was put into a storage locker. As a result of neglecting to pay the rent, the contents of the locker, including the portrait, were sold at auction. At this point the O'Malley Antique Store in Lakewood acquired it.
Years later, a potential customer informed me that the O’Malley brothers were seeking the rightful owner of this “masterpiece.” I contacted them and attempted to buy the painting back, but the more I persisted, the more suspicious and reluctant they became. After several months of negotiations, I asked them to go to their local Lakewood Library and read the account in I Remember Roscoe. After doing so, they were willing to entrust me with Mary’s portrait. I wrote a check and picked it up, happy to have acquired once again a work of art on which I had spent over 300 hours to achieve the highest level of my artistic development to that point. Because the content is timeless, this painting is an artistic statement that transcends the decades.
How do a deer and a young lady occupy the same spot at the same time? Only in art!
