The Awakening was painted in Houston, TX while on vacation at nephew Chad and Beth Winterfeldt’s house. The colors used represented what I saw outside in this tropical paradise. I painted outside in the heat and humidity, drinking Lone Star Beer, while Beth’s piano students watched though the window, trying to concentrate on their lesson. It was made for the Rourke Art Gallery Museum’s Midwestern Invitational.

The piece consists of two canvases in order to fit into the car for the trip back to Minnesota. At the time, I was just trying to make art, and a dual canvas didn’t bother me, but I wouldn’t do that again. It is framed as one painting.

The subject, a silly, ignorant “village idiot” individual, discovers the meaning of life while picking up a little flower. His imagination is awakening, his mind is flowering, as it were. Could this be another self portrait?