Watercolors
Based on a dream I had in 2004, one of the 3 most powerful dreams in my life. In it, I was in the backyard of the house I grew up in, a summer day with a woman I had gone on a date with 3 years before, (I was able to figure out through my journal that the dream occurred within 6 or 7 hours of the anniversary of the date with her). She was sitting on a picnic blanket and I sat on a chair next to her. We were chatting and she affectionately sucked one of my fingers. We immediately shared our love for each other. Soon, I heard my mother inside the house and brought the woman into meet her, but there was a church picnic that was about to happen in the backyard. The yard soon became filled with mostly older people who were staring at me with judgment, (but also including younger fraternal triplets--2 women and one man--sitting in our untended garden). The woman became engaged with the guests but looked close to being overwhelmed. An older Boy Scout I knew from church was there, and he looked at me and said my name, and soon after I woke up--feeling an intense presence and calm I hadn't felt for a long time.
A few months before I started this piece, I revisited the original journal entry where I recorded this dream. I did some preliminary interpretations, and the next day I was reading Bruce Springsteen's autobiography and came to the part where he powerfully recounted the last moments he spent living in his hometown. When I finished that section, I immediately felt compelled to finish the interpretation. I left the coffee shop I was at and biked behind the gallery I am represented, Studio &, and saw a dead raven lying in the alley. This was all too much--I immediately went to the gallery, where my friend was able to help me with further interpretation.
Whether or not this watercolor captured the essence of the dream (I feel like it came up somewhat short), the process of creating this piece was crucial to my artistic development.