Woodworth Art

"Man Made"

Oil. In the ground naturally it does not not pose any immediate threat to humanity. What great forces placed it there? When man gets involved with oil,  it becomes toxic and potentially lethal.  I firmly believe that for every solution man comes up with he creates another problem for himself or his environment. Providing shade for himself is about the only thing that I can come up with that would not adversely affect him or his environment unless he builds or cuts something down. Can you think of any?

In this painting I am depicting  a story of  a Koi that has passed away after drinking from the fortune telling cup containing oil.  On the outside of the cup it states, “Wouldns’t thy fortune like to see?” I think we know what the result is. There is an empty bird cage on the fortune telling cup. I freed the bird inside of the cage in my composition, but the bird is trapped on the cup inside the cage in real life. The candle that has just extinguished is symbolic of the Kois’ death. The two lit candles represent the two Koi that appear to be headed for the same fate. The antique oil can came from my shop and was my initial inspiration.

I was working out in my Shop one day and was looking at this old antique oil can I have had for decades now. I started thinking why someone would keep such an object. Later on, I started creating this setting in my mind that used wrenches as a bouquet instead of flowers. I was thinking something very industrial looking would do the trick. A few weeks  passed and I was now imagining complete images of my Koi in the composition.  On April 12, 2010 I started a reference photo shoot that would last for four straight days on my dining room table. When the dust settled, I had come up with 359 individual studies of lighting and compositions.  Of those, six compositions were selected to weave a story together.

I laid pencils to paper on April 16th, 2010 and had everything in my composition completely filled in with the preliminary layers of pencils. The glass balls represent what is left of our water resources fit for human consumption. You will notice the ball on the far left coming in seemingly  through the background. The size of this glass ball is significantly smaller than the other two to represent how our water is rapidly dwindling. By comparing the oil can to the glass balls you can see the future is not too bright for us as far as oil is concerned.

This is the first time I had “Killed” a Koi off in one of my paintings. It bothered me a great deal to do so. I left the white portion of the painting to make the rest of the composition “Pop” like you are being enlightened. I wasn’t just being lazy and did not want to fill the white portion in.

On  April 20th, 2010 which was my birthday, I heard the shocking news. I was actually working on the piece when I heard that an oil rig had exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. By April 25th 2010, the spill was being heavily downplayed by officials and the press. This would be the last day to view satellite images of the spill by the public for quite some time.   I added the image of the satellite view to my dead Koi as a marking in black. Then I came up with the idea of placing all of  Americas greatest oil spills on the deceased Koi body in black. The Santa Barbara and the Valdez.  I made the dead Koi very gray and dull looking to help sell the story. I certainly did not see that composition coming at all, but it was a marvelous experience to conceive and follow through with a rather unsettling image. I realize this composition is not for everyone but it does have a strong message to it.

Everything you see in this composition is “ManMade”, Oil can, wrenches, candles, glass,  even the  flames off the candles all “Man Made’.  The Koi who are bread strictly for their colors, the ultimate in mans arrogance are really “Man Made”. The fortune telling cup and saucer and the associated beliefs behind it,  are certainly “ManMade” and live between your ears only.  Even the lighting in the compostion I used a shade to “control” the lighting hence, “ManMade”. The glass balls …”Man Made”. Everything. I was once again able to use my Koi to tell a story. A story that does not portray a bright future for oil. Thanks for reading this and don’t’ be shy about your thoughts or feedback.

Last weekend Ken and I attended the dedication of a mural done in Japan Town, Lodi, California.  Most people don’t even know that Lodi had a Japan quarter.  In fact, we didn’t know until Tony Segale, the artist of the mural, told us about it.

Tony Segale, saying a few words during the dedication of his mural.

During WWII, Japan town was essentially lost.  The families were sent to interment camps, their properties lost to unpaid taxes and disrepair.  They came back to nothing.  Tony Segale’s mural seeks to remind Lodians of a once thriving community.  The mural depicts snap shots taken of the Japanese community during a time when it was intact.

Three of the dancers walking slowly down the alley that was once a thriving Japanese community.

During the dedication, dancers walked ever-so-slowly down the alley.  They stopped, set down their cases, and turned their heads to the images depicted in the murals and then upward to the sky.  Next, they slowly straightened their bodies, picked up their cases, and began to move forward.  This pattern tempered cautious movement repeated many times in what was a solemn remembrance.  It felt as if spirits from long ago were coming home from the war, and seeing all the changes Lodi has gone through in 50 years, for the first time.

A Dancer in front of part of the mural.

The Dancers took in the mural as a young woman read aloud the names of the Japanese families that lived in this neighborhood.  Later, Tony Segale told the story of the woman depicted in this portion of the mural.  Apparently, she did not like her photo to be taken, so she scratched out her face.  Tony honored her wishes by painting the image on the mural just as the family had kept it all these years.

A dancer in a bowing movement in front of the mural.

While at the dedication, it struck me how powerful art is and why it is so important to a community.  This mural is not only a remembrance, it is an acknowledgment of a not-so-pleasant truth in American, and Lodian,  history.  It depicts great sadness contrasted with great pride.  Loss contrasted with hope.  War contrasted with peace.