DATE COMPLETED: MARCH 30, 2016

TOTAL HOURS WORKED: 44

This is a scene I saw from the back window of my apartment in Chicago in August, 1988.  Jessica Blue my (soon to be) 4 year old back yard neighbor had suddenly climbed into a lawn chair with her baby sitter.  I fumbled with the camera and tried desperately to remain hidden.  After all I had just moved in that month and didn’t want to seem a nosy neighbor.  But Jessica’s pose seemed too precious to not try to capture.  

 

The bright colors of the webbing had always seemed an interesting visual motif, so soon after starting to work in color in 2016 I decided to resurrect this old shot.  I used the more improvised method I had tried out in Kiss on the Cheek earlier that year.  The draft here was minimal. (The photo I worked from was itself VERY minimal!)  The features on both Jessica and her Nanny were all but washed out in the original shot, so I had to forensically recreate their features.  My chaotic improvisations were somewhat successful in the case of Jessica; but what I did with Nanny was a bit of a disappointment.  Unlike most of my work (which is thoroughly mapped out and planned well in advance) this piece was far more spontaneous in character.  I think it comes off as a more sketch like piece as a result. Yes, it took a long time to pull together. But at the time it felt very “seat of the pants.”

 

One of my favorite elements is the line up of the four shoes at the bottom of the chair.  There is something about the multitude of webbing colors against the different skin tones that feels very satisfying. Yes, it is just a lawn chair; but I wanted the image to have an almost patchwork quilt like quality.