SlumberTrain

Slumbertrain, the musical piece is found here: https://stevencurtis1.bandcamp.com/track/slumbertrain

This is really the first piece that I've completed in 8 years of working in oil on wood panels that is COMPLETELY from imagination, with no physical or photographic references.

It started with a sketch, and the rest fell into place. I didn't know when I made the sketch that I was planning a painting, but it went that way. Possibly the best things are a surprise?

This is more than just one first however. It's also the first large piece that I've created that would be easily in the camp of Surrealism.

Most of my realist works have been detailed, as this one, and with a certain depth of field, the foreground being in focus. So it is with this painting. I've almost always had a realistic model to work from, a photograph, sometimes from the giant web of images, or sometimes my own photos. But I've never painted a work that was completely from the frontal lobe (if that's where it's from - seems it may be deeper than that, where dreams come from most likely).

There is yet another first here. This is the first painting that I've created a custom musical piece for, AND an animated GIF. (The GIF animation does not work here on Altamira, but you can see that on my website here: https://www.stephenarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/SlumberTrainLoop1.gif

As for content, I'm going to let this one speak for itself. I have become reticent to speak of content matters in most cases, because I have this philosophy:

"If I have to explain what my art is about, then it's not doing it's marvelous work by itself of telling it's own story."

This is Oil on Wood Panel, 2 in. deep, and 28x28 inches square. Many coats of gesso, and many hours of work.