The Actual Being of Things

"Existence, that's what I'm after. The actual being of things. Their reality. In order for something to exist in paint it has to transmit a feeling, and when I look st something, I try to feel it out. For instance, a painting that I'm working on. A composition of Barbara and her sister Lois picking mulberries from a mulberry tree with the sun glowing in from behind them. They are mostly in the shadow, but the sunlight glows around them emphatically. Their har doesn't shine, it glows, as do the contours of their bodies. The leaves on the tree are iridescent and also glow with a few sporadic sparks of some glinting leaves. Behind them, the most difficult portion of the painting, the background, is a series of planes, of darks and lights consisting of greens and yellows. The whole composition is almost too green, but I intend to work with it more colorwise and in a few instances with the clarification of composition. I seriously believe that in order for me to attain the realism and actual being of things, I will have to simplify my composition and strip the objects of almost all of their ornament to save for the dignity of the moment."

Al Sprague, Artist's Journal, June 3, 1964. 

-------

Kassie, 1994

As a child, my favorite place to play was right outside Dad's studio. I had an old metal school desk with the chair connected to the desktop that opened to store paper and other supplies. I would spend hours playing school while Dad painted in his garage studio. If I close my eyes, I can see myself in that very spot: I can smell the scent of the oil paints that Dad used as well as the smell of the jungle foliage that surrounded our house.

I recall Dad painting live portraits. Friends and clients came to his studio and sat while he painted on canvas their portraits. I always wondered, what my portrait would look like some day.

Fast forward to the year of 1994 - I was married and visiting Dad in Virginia when he announced that he wanted to paint me but it wasn't going to be a traditional sitting portrait. He recalled a painting he did of my mother, Barbara in the garden picking mulberries and he wanted to paint something similar of me. I found a colorful dress and we went out to his yard to take photos for him to use as material.

Several months passed before a huge box arrived at my doorstep. I couldn't wait to tear it open to see what he created ... it was beautiful! I couldn't believe my eyes!

My mother still has that painting of her picking mulberries - it hangs in her stairwell. I have told her multiple times that I would love to add her painting to my collection not only because I have always loved it but because it will make a perfect companion piece to my portrait. My name is on the painting and I will receive it when the time comes for distribution of her artwork. Until then, my portrait hangs where I can see it every day along with another painting he completed of Kendall, my daughter, and me which he painted in the same style - a simple composition with a background made up of darks and lights transmitting the feeling of love.

"Thank you Dad for giving me these gifts to remind me of your unconditional love for me as your daughter." 

Under the Mulberry Tree, Circa 1964

Mother and Child (Kassie and Kendall), 1996