This painting was named a finalist in The Artist’s Magazine’s prestigious 24th Annual Art Competition. “Jam” was one of a number of finalists in the Still Life category from thousands of entries. This painting got Steve recognition in the December 2007 issue of the magazine.
Consider this painting to be a portrait of my son – painted this for him. One of our favorite games when he was young was playing with his Hot Wheel cars. We set up the cars’ tracks across the length of our basement and took turns shooting cars back and forth to each other. I noticed that when I shot the cars to him, he collected them in a neat, orderly pile, just like cars stuck on the highway caught in traffic. Was captivated by the design – reminded me of some of the grids-of-color paintings I had seen at MoMA on a trip around that same time – neat and orderly, yet there’s a lot of movement (much like my son). Thought I could compose his cars in similar pattern, using contrasting (red/green, purple/yellow, blue/orange) and complimentary colors (colors side by side on the color wheel) and high contrast of light and dark next to each other to move the viewers eye throughout the work. Contrasting colors would stand out. Complimentary colors would recede. Mixed in a few of the cars that I had from when I was a kid into this composition. Many of my buddies who’ve viewed this piece recognize a car or two that they’ve either purchased for their kids or had when they were a kid. See if you recognize any of them.
