Broken Wing

11" x 14"

oil on panel

My good friend Keith, who I have been friends with since the sixth grade, owns one of the largest prop rental companies serving Hollywood. His father started it when we were kids by renting out his antique toy collection to advertising agencies for print media, which eventually grew and expanded into television and film. I've watched this company grow for decades and always enjoyed walking through the warehouses of antiquities when I could.

Keith has a lot of his dad's toy collection at home displayed in just about every room of his house. Last Christmas, we paid a visit to Keith and his family and of course, I had to rummage around and take pictures, because things constantly change with the collection. I found these two tin articulated birds, dusty, laying in a box that was not quite unpacked. The pair spoke to me immediately not only as subject matter for a painting, but also as having some sort of narrative dialog between the two. They were friends (or enemies?) and one has lost both wings and is in a vulnerable state. I could go on about all the possible metaphors to life and art, but I'll simply leave that to you, the viewer, and let you draft your own story. I will say, however, that there seems to be some poetry in the mood of these colors and I'm happy about that.