Painting family. . .

In the Glow .  24 x 30"  .  o/linen canvas

My daughter and family recently moved out to Portland, Oregon, from Charleston, SC.  Coast to coast, so to speak, and now about 2,800 miles away from me!  Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely happy for them. . .I hear raves about Portland and it's a good fit for them.  My granddaughter had only known one home in her 10 years. . .so I painted her, for posterity, in her old bedroom with all the paraphernalia of childhood along with her kitty, Finch, and faithful Teddy. How will she feel about this as she grows older I have not a clue, but it was too sentimental for me to pass up.  

Can good art be sentimental?  I've often heard people discuss sentimentality (in art) with a  very negative connotation, as if something too saccharin is not worthy.  I wonder if we're often afraid to face the "sweeter" emotions of life, for we know the art world is certainly full of the dark side with nearly no boundaries.  Note all the contemporary realism paintings full of blood and agony.

You can find discussions on how to avoid "sentimental/naive" art, is it really art (?), does it bully you into an emotion?  Methinks there's too much over thinking swimming around in the art world that does a disservice to the simplicity of either liking a painting or not. Patrons are not one whole collective with "like minded" being their glue - perhaps it would be more helpful to say there's a place for all art at the table. And yes, even blood and agony.  

Truth: if it's good art, done with a level of finesse easily recognized, with the best of materials available today, there's a ton of work behind it.  I mean a ton of work.  None of it comes easy, and requires a relentless passion plus an eagerness to constantly evolve and learn that few professions require for longevity. Success is the brass ring and the artist is on the merry go round every day of their life reaching for that brass ring.  

There's truly never a plateau where comfort with the status quo comes into play!  I'm always floored when some of this country's best, most highly regarded artists, express doubt or dissatisfaction with their work.  It's an "always seeking" way of life, every new painting birthing new possibilities.

In the Glow is about new possibilities, a transition in progress, a ten-year-old entering the 'tween years with the comfort of what was before standing by while the technology of today catapults her into the ever-changing world of tomorrow.  Sentimental or not, it was important for me to capture this bridge of life. . .