Still-Life Paintings
 

"Almost"

40 X 32 - oil on linen 2008

 
 

This, the first of what will be a series of four, is a story about a relationship that has gone horribly wrong. It is a dramatic representation and I really wanted it to feel like a play about this relationship rather than just commentary. The idea and look of the painting was inspired by the Stanley Kubrick film "Eyes Wide Shut".

The female mask on the left is sitting on a stack of books and the Peacock feathers are considered bad luck on stage. The male mask on the right is sitting on a suitcase with an obvious reference there. The hour glass is empty, not a grain of sand left in it. The single gold goblet represents that only one of them is doing the drinking. The cards are the 3,4,5, and 6 of spades and then the A of diamonds. A loosing hand, one card shy of a straight flush. The dice come out to six with snake eyes facing out but not up. The huge engagement ring sits out on the table. This relationship is not just over it's dead, nothing left.

Many people have had their own interpretations, some even saw this as a fun optimistic painting with carnival references. I will not argue........ It is whatever you see in it.

     
   

All images ©2003-2008 Clinton T. Hobart