New Painting Series
Sent: 6/19/2021 8:46:11 AM

View Text Version | SUBSCRIBE

Shoe Portraits and Fathers

A well Earned Rest by Jan Dale 20"x20"

The shoes people wear say a lot about them.

Just take a look in your own closet and you'll no doubt see your personality there. A few weeks back I finished "A Well-Earned Rest." That was, as you may recall, a self portrait. The scuffs and paint gunk tell the story of a woman who paints for a living. If you didn't get to read that issue, you can do that HERE.

At first this was just going to be a one-off shoe painting. But it greeted me as I entered my studio every day, and as some of my readers began to connect with it on a personal level, the thought came to me to make it into a series of shoe portraits intended to be shown together.

One for sure will include the shoes of a follower of mine, a terrific lady who opens and reads everything I send. She has a pretty cool shoe story of her own that needs telling. And I have the photo references for at least two others.

I'm still not sure how many of them I'll do, but this being Fathers' Day weekend, I know for sure that one of them will tell the story of my dad.

People who know me for very long will know how I feel about my dad. He was an incredibly hard-working man, faithful and devoted husband, tender and trustworthy father. And he was drop-dead gorgeous and out-of-his-mind creative to boot! He really was too good to be true...and I adored him.

Dad with my brother, Ira

Photo reference for "Daddy's Steppin' Out Shoes."

I don't really remember the shoes he wore out in the garden, at work, or when he went fishing. I'm sure they had to be as care-worn as mine in the painting above. The ones I remember were the black wingtip shoes he brought out on those rare occasions when

he and Mama stepped out together. After all, people with eleven children don't usually have much of a budget for partying.

I must have driven him mad as I sat near his feet, fascinated with his shoe-polishing box. I loved watching him press the buffing brush into the tiny gold tin of blacker-than-a-thousand-midnights wax and then the PFF-Whoosh ...PFF-Whoosh sound the brush made as he pushed and pulled it vigorously over each shoe.

When he was done they were so shiny I could see my reflection in them. Couple that with the aroma of Old Spice and I was a six-year old in love, and just a wee bit jealous of Mama.

I'd look up and catch Daddy smiling to himself with a sense of deep satisfaction. Oh how he enjoyed the simple pleasures of life and of fatherhood.... or maybe he was just looking forward to a break from it all. I prefer to think he was pleased and amused at the unabashed adoration of his youngest daughter.

In any case, it's clear that the shoe series HAS to include a pair of freshly polished wingtips and a bottle of Old Spice.

Now among the one hundred plus people who subscribe to my studio news, I just know there are some who will be reminded of your own father in some tender or humorous way.

If you have a fond memory about your dad, please consider replying to this email and share it with me. I often use subscriber stories as inspiration for new work, with permission of course.

Until next time, enjoy the fresh summer air and birdsong.

Jan