Collateral Damage water media 9x12"
The Gulf oil disaster needs no explanation. Recently I read the delicate plovers are migrating back right into the mess which prompted me to paint this piece. I have only seen photographs of pelicans dripping in oil and I don't know how much oil the plovers will get on them since they are shore /wading birds. So this is done purely from my imagination. As an artist how much license should I take ? Does it take away from the message if I decide to be faithful to the spirit of the idea, to the emotional content and go with my imagination? Recently there was a story on NPR about Michelangelo drawing a brain in God's neck in the Sistine Chapel ceiling and the discussion centered upon why there and what did he want to convey? Artists have always wanted to make philosophical and political statements. My hope is that, the messages doesn't get swept away in the debate about realistic depiction.
