It is the feast day in celebration of creative resistance. Read all about it …

May Day, May Day.

And I quote:

“The lowest pit in hell is occupied by the artist who does not work”

– A.J. Cronin, A Thing of Beauty

title : the state of the union
medium : oil on paper, wood support
dimensions : 4″ x 6″ x 1 7/8″

This is a study in oil of a famous fist. Shrub a.k.a Bush was pounding his clammy paw at a particularly peak moment during his State of The Union Address – January 2002. An unbelievably candid photo hit the cover of the free daily in Toronto the very next morning.

I did a study of the photograph which I intend to post soon. In the meantime and to open your palette for what comes next I offer this little detail.

What comes next? It isn’t pretty but it’s honest …

title : animatronic citizen
medium : oil on paper, magazine clippings, wood support.
dimensions : 15 1/8″ high x 11 1/8″ wide

For the love of God – how has a Disney Animatron been able to outwit the U.S. electoral system for so long?! Clearly, someone else is operating the switches.

I read a Washington Post article online … early 2001? The writer described a series of letters from a reader who had noticed and was deeply disturbed by photos published in the Post of President Shrub at various press conferences. What bothered her was the uncanny feeling she got comparing the photos, each taken at a different press conference. In each one a different whitehouse spokesperson is at the podium while the little Shrub stands off to the side. Always off to the same side. Always slightly tilted to one side. Appearing even to be wearing the same suit and tie. Like a robot on pause.

Seeking an explanation for what her eyes were telling her and thoroughly creeped out by the implications, she had written her letter to the editor in hopes of a soothing, banal explanation. The editor thought it was a joke but upon examination of the photos himself, found he could not but share her unease. He went a step further with his research, reasoning that if Shrub were not a robot but a real live american boy like people thought he was then there would be a trail of evidence, a public document in photo format of Shrub juniour as a little fella. He found precious little and what he found looked like it was doctored. Badly. In contrast he found plenty of family snapshots of Jeb at all ages.

I really don’t know if the reporter was pulling my leg or not. I couldn’t stop looking at the example he’d linked to the article though, so I painted it.

Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmm …