Fourth of July

Fourth of July
Photo and text courtesy & copyright
Robert Olszewski and OlszewskiStudios.COM.

Caption by Robert Olszewski

Collectors often ask if I have a favorite work of art. This is it! This piece captures my boyhood, my life of possibility, and hangs over my dresser in our bedroom. Each morning I awake and as I look at it I remember the happy years before father's death, and cherish the life I have today.

At this point in my life, life is a big "anything can happen," almost saying the sky is the limit, for me as a young boy growing up in the U.S.A. In contrast to some of my later controlled work, this piece was painted at a time when I was painting in a large rented studio. When I painted outside, I would paint fast and bold. Painting outside is much different than painting in a studio.

When you paint in a studio, the temperature is constant as well as the lighting and under these conditions, you can take your time and ponder as long as you like. When you paint outdoors, it's a whole different world. The light is changing as the sun crosses the sky and you may have lost your shade as well. You might start out in the morning in full shade under a tree and find yourself two hours later baking in full sun. This does not even account for the flies and gnats that find you to be the most interesting painter since Van Gogh. In short, I paint faster outside. So, this piece is an inside studio piece influenced by my outside painting. At this point, it was painted as a rough sketch, which I had planned to refine over the next weeks. When I came back to the studio the next day, I liked the feeling of the piece and added only a few small finishing details. The serious side of this piece centers on our father's death at age 43. This work is another painting addressing this major upheaval in our family's life.

~ Robert Olszewski