In my family, food is love. Ask a Scheuring kid about a holiday, and the first thing we’ll talk about is the food. I have very fond memories watching Saturday morning cartoons with my brother, both of us munching away on overflowing bowls of cereal. Of course, we made our cereal selection decisions based on which brand had the coolest prize. Freakies cereal always seemed to have the best toy. But, Cap’n Crunch Crunch Berries was my favorite.
There’s a great story about the genesis of this painting of my son, Cole, and cereal merchandise. Was inspired by a conversation we had while watching TV. Back around 2010, when Cole was 8, a news program came on TV – there was talk of a serial killer. Cole asked “what’s a serial killer?” Had to explain it to him – imagine trying to explain to an 8-year-old kid about the evil of a serial killer. Wasn’t fun. In fact, it was depressing. After my explanation, I noticed Cole looked confused. I asked, “what’s wrong?” “Oh, nothing, Dad.” “C’mon, what’s wrong?” He explained that he thought a “cereal” killer had something to do with his breakfast cereal. We both had a good laugh.
I went through the wide range of emotions in a few seconds. Had real mixed feelings – kind of a “lost innocence” thing – both serious and silly at the same time. Thought the idea of a “cereal killer” would make a great painting – tried to capture those feelings on this canvas.
