Where The Children Play
18" x 24"
Acrylic paint on canvas
London, Ontario
2008
Jim Kogelheide
I’m always happiest when I’m working on a commissioned
painting. I’m sure that you will agree that it is one of the highest forms of
flattery an artist can receive. I always put my best efforts into these
paintings because I know that the artwork is of a very personal nature for my
client – because it’s usually a painting of a family member or pet.
I’ve always found most portraits to be rather boring and lacking in personality – even if the painting is masterfully created. An image of a person sitting in a chair with a forced smile just doesn’t ‘turn me on’. I always try to create a scene with the subject being involved in the environment in some way.
I’ve always found most portraits to be rather boring and lacking in personality – even if the painting is masterfully created. An image of a person sitting in a chair with a forced smile just doesn’t ‘turn me on’. I always try to create a scene with the subject being involved in the environment in some way.
Several years ago, my
wife was working in a nearby veterinarian office and her boss, Julia, asked me
to create a painting. She gave me a
small selection of photos with her two children that were taken many years ago
when they were on a vacation in Northern Ontario.
In all the art classes I teach, it is always very important for me to emphasize the importance of ‘texture’ – how the paint is applied to the canvas. There are so many different ways of creating texture and I’d say that it is probably the most important aspect of any work that I do. I had a really cool idea for the texture for this painting that would add much more dynamics to the final product.
I overlaid a second image onto the outline of the children in the boat. It was a very simple image, but it gave me the ‘formula’ for the texture I would be creating. Since the children were in a boat, on vacation, in Northern Ontario, I decided to create a simple image to symbolize this.
In all the art classes I teach, it is always very important for me to emphasize the importance of ‘texture’ – how the paint is applied to the canvas. There are so many different ways of creating texture and I’d say that it is probably the most important aspect of any work that I do. I had a really cool idea for the texture for this painting that would add much more dynamics to the final product.
I overlaid a second image onto the outline of the children in the boat. It was a very simple image, but it gave me the ‘formula’ for the texture I would be creating. Since the children were in a boat, on vacation, in Northern Ontario, I decided to create a simple image to symbolize this.
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| Waves at the bottom, circles for the sun & wiggles for the trees |
The water is symbolized
with simple wavy lines that fill the bottom half of the painting. The trees of
Northern Ontario are drawn to the left side (there’s four of them) of the image
and the sun (symbolizing happiness and peace) fills the remaining space – being
drawn with circles that get larger from the central point.
So… while the colours of the painting were designed around the two children, on a small boat with water in the background, the way these colours were placed on the canvas followed the second image of water, trees and sun. This was an extreme test of my patience and organizational skills. A great challenge, indeed!!!
Then it was time to title the artwork. Luckily this came to me very quickly. During most painting sessions, I usually listen to music – either a mixed cassette, CD or even a record – yes that’s right – a vinyl album. On one of the days I was listening to Cat Steven’s ‘Tea for the Tillerman’ and the song “Where Do The Children Play?” began. I’ve always enjoyed Cat Steven’s philosophy concerning ‘man’ and the ‘environment’ – it was through listening to his songs that I became aware of our civilizations need to evolve peacefully above oppressing industrialism.
So… while the colours of the painting were designed around the two children, on a small boat with water in the background, the way these colours were placed on the canvas followed the second image of water, trees and sun. This was an extreme test of my patience and organizational skills. A great challenge, indeed!!!
Then it was time to title the artwork. Luckily this came to me very quickly. During most painting sessions, I usually listen to music – either a mixed cassette, CD or even a record – yes that’s right – a vinyl album. On one of the days I was listening to Cat Steven’s ‘Tea for the Tillerman’ and the song “Where Do The Children Play?” began. I’ve always enjoyed Cat Steven’s philosophy concerning ‘man’ and the ‘environment’ – it was through listening to his songs that I became aware of our civilizations need to evolve peacefully above oppressing industrialism.
My thoughts strayed
into our future as I visualized a world that embraced Nature and ideals that
will lead humanity to become a sustainable civilization. As I did this, I became aware that the answer
to the question, “Where Do The Children Play?” is very simple. They will play in Nature – on a lake –
surrounded by trees and since these are all the aspects that went in to this
portrait painting, I simply named it, “Where The Children Play”!!
Jim Kogelheide
2016
++++++++++++++++++++++
I can’t recall any
other time when I’ve used a title for one of my paintings for more than one
painting, but several years later, I was involved in another wonderful art
experience involving children and I used the title “Where The Children Play”,
again…
 |
| Devon & Daddee working on a very large mural |
I must have fallen in
love with this title, for just last summer, I used this title yet again. This time, I used the title, “Where The
Children Play” not for a painting but for a magazine article I wrote for the
Byron Villager magazine…
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| Autographed by Jenny Jones! |
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