In these Times

These are hard times.  It is hard to listen to the news, hear all the fighting and discord.  It is hard to know who to believe and what is the truth.  I could turn it all off and just go about my day and say hey what can I do?  There are many times I want to, let someone else do the dirty work, get yelled at, ridiculed, take up the banner but that is not what Americans do.  In America we are supposed to be able to discuss our beliefs, be respected for it even when we disagree.  We are civil to each other.  Is not that why our ancestors came to this country to worship and believe as we choose.  We are celebrating this year 250 years of this democracy and yes, this country has gone through tough times before I guess but not when we hold so much destruction in our hands.

So as a painter I feel compelled to paint my concerns and questions.  The piece begins to tackle these questions.  It is only a beginning and I have so many questions and concerns.  I suppose we are doing no different as we have always done, persecute the most recent immigrants. Blame someone else for our own short comings. History repeating its self.  Why can ‘t we do it differently.  We can get computers to think for us, send people to space, yet we still cannot get along with each other and build a better world.

This piece is large for a watercolor and will be on display at the Brickstore Museum in Kennebunk May through August.