Laundry Day

 "Laundry Day" (24x30)

June 22nd is the opening of this years Oil Painters of America National Exhibition in Evergreen Colorado. I am very grateful the painting above was accepted into the show -- it is part of a series I've been working on depicting common, everyday household chores, and the unsung hero of home labor...

My own mom was one of those -- she worked a 40 hour a week job, plus the equivalent of another one raising my brother and me.

(detail)

 I wanted to bring attention to the beauty of this kind of subject and stop time for a moment to appreciate what otherwise gets little to no coverage at the end of the days news. Artists have for centuries of course depicted this kind of genre, and it never gets old. I think that's because like a good landscape, we can all relate to it -- it's a fact of life (especially to the middle and lower classes)...

sketch (9x12)

Above is one of several sketches made in planning "Laundry Day".  Being mindful of a chore most people don't get too excited about also called for some upbeat colours to combat the possibility of what could be a depressing scene.  I kept the bright colour relegated to the figure only; as a focal point and to convey that although the beauty is inherent in what she is doing, the source of the beauty emanates from her alone...

(detail)

I was fortunate to have a family friend pose for me with my mother-in-laws antique ironing board and iron. This gave me opportunity to make a connection to the past with this subject, and remind us of the not-too-distant crude technology people suffered with...

I was also fortunate to have the mother I did, and until I painted this, I never thought about the beauty in those thank worthy yet thankless jobs she performed all those years...but it was certainly there, every time.