Requiem

"Requiem" Oil on Canvas (42x72)

Here it is.  This painting and I have been working together since the end of May. Really much longer, since early February when I had the dream that has become the subject. A dream I remembered, which I rarely do.  A dream that had me twisted about. A dream that needed to be studied and painted so I could release it.  

I pulled up in a car with three or four other people and we were about to board a helicopter. There were problems. The helicopter wouldn’t start and as we were waiting we hear a commotion in the distance. Gunfire. People fleeing. People dying. 

As I run, I scream, “We’ve got to go. There’s no time. Run!”  

The area now morphs into what looks like a shopping mall parking lot and I reach the outer edge. I find a barrier where I take cover. The others did not come with me and they are not to be seen in the distance. The car is gone. I don’t know their fate.

There are screams and more gunfire. The gunman is moving closer to where I am, but I dare not move. I’ll surely be shot like all the others. 

I hear footsteps and know the gunman is only feet away and then he steps over the barrier. There is no escape. The barrel of the gun is placed to my head and I am calm as I accept my fate. My only thought is that now I will know what happens.  What happens when we die. I feel two bullets pass through my brain, 

And I wait…

And wait…

Nothing happens…only darkness…only quiet. 

Then…I woke from my dream.  

I’ve said that sometimes I cry when I finish a painting. With this one, I cried when I began and a couple of times during. Release comes in its own way and its own time.

Here’s a little slideshow to show you the progress…the steps and missteps along the way until I finished.