I am currently working on completing a series of paintings illustrating the book of Job.   I chose to explore this particular theme of suffering and loss as the result of the sudden death of my grandfather and the lengthy terminal illness quietly endured by my grandmother.  (She, too, died shortly after my grandfather.)  In reading the story, I felt that Job represented a kind of "Everyman" figure.  Despite its ancient roots, many of us in today's society can relate, in some measure, to Job's anguish and anger when answers aren't readily available.  "Job's Tribulations" represents the moment of realization that all seems hopelessly lost.   His shaved head and nakedness are outward symbols of his mourning.  In a vain attempt to relieve his misery, Job sits alone in ashes, scraping his inflamed skin with a shard of broken pottery.

This completed work was actually the first painting in the series. I began working in the summer of 1998 and continued working on various canvases until the Fall of 1999.  I felt so energized by the results from this painting that it lead me to continue working with the theme and illustrating the story. Dozens of sketches were created before I finally arrived at the composition that you see above.    The total time it took me to complete this work was about a month and a half, painting nearly every day for two hours or more at a time.  It had been a long time since I had worked with oil paints, so at first I felt clumsy and heavy-handed with the brushes.  There were several times that I would have to re-paint over an area due to my indecisions and rush to finish.  However, perseverance and patience prevailed.   One of my favorite aspects about the work is the great areas of strong contrasts between light and dark areas.  In previous paintings, I was always too timid to place such bold areas right next to each other.  In this work, I decided to throw all of my previous notions about what I considered "good painting to me" out the window and start fresh.  I love the areas around the figure's feet and the overly bold lines that delineate the arms and legs.  The colors I chose were very challenging combinations to work with.  Complementary colors such as yelllow and purple are diffucult to manage because, by their very nature, are such opposites.  I feel that this tension only adds to the sense of brooding uneasiness in the work.  The proportions of the human figure were one of my biggest concerns about the piece.  I had never painted a figure on such a scale before.  To me, I think the larger-than-life quality reflects some of the particular aspects of the story itself.