“DEVIL’S IN THE CAMPFIRE”

“The devil is in the details” but in this painting I play around with that wisdom and shift the focus to the campfire, the place where people often enjoy sharing their favorite stories with family and friends. Such narratives are helpful to me. They remind me of the richness of my life and the good people and things for which I am grateful. On the other side of that coin, some are carefully crafted narratives that explain away or hide my feelings of weakness or disappointment or anger. Together, both kinds of talking points orbit each other and sometimes collide in the smoke of the campfire. Anyway, this painting suggests that I think more deeply about how and why I tell my narratives. This is true probably for anyone, I guess, but especially for old men like me … who have lots of stories.