The Drifter

We often find ourselves drifting aimlessly through life day by day, week by week, surrendering to the monotony of routine and the comfort of the known. Years can fly by in this automated state adopted in order to efficiently service our ever-increasing responsibilities and duties with limited interruption to our regimens.

I wanted to paint a piece that illustrates this existential dilemma. The subject is a hardened heroine trekking through a barren desert with head down and eyes forward; she knows where she’s going and she knows how to get there. However, in the unflinching focus of her goal, she walks right by a beautiful glowing patch of prickly pears in full bloom. As unlikely as it sometimes appears, there is still immense beauty to be found in places we least expect, we just need to slow down from time to time and look for it.

Much like the subject in the piece, the painting itself drifted aimlessly around the country from show to show until ultimately finding a home in Texas. From it’s creation in Downers Grove, Illinois, it escaped the oppressive winter to find warmer weather in Florida for a string of shows in February of 2023. It went from Miami to Key West to Tampa, and then slowly returned to the frigid north after failing to find a wall to adorn in the Sunshine State. A couple of months later, it again made the long journey south for another string of shows, this time in Texas. After a quick stop in Fort Worth, The Drifter found its buyer in Southlake before making the quick jog over to McKinney where it proudly hangs today.