The Life of Color

"To me, color has to be a living part of my composition and color has to live because of my composition, rather than my composition living because of my color. The color expresses the feeling, the mood, the actual being of things present, alive, moving, or still; however, this is to be accomplished only with the correlation of the technique used." 

Al Sprague, Artist's Journal, September 13, 1963

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Baile de Pollera, 1978

It was the summer of 1978 when I first set my eyes on Baile de Pollera. The painting was sitting on Dad's easel in his studio. I fell instantly in love! I couldn't stop raving about how beautiful this painting was. Dad immediately responded, "Well then, it's yours! I will hold onto it until you have your own home and then it is yours to keep." Over the years, many people tried to buy Baile de Pollera but Dad always responded, "I'm sorry, but that painting belongs to my daughter, Kassie."

Twenty-three years passed - I got married and had just returned from our honeymoon when two large boxes arrived on our doorstep. It was like Christmas Day in August. I tore open the cardboard to find two originals - one Bahamian painting for our wedding gift and Baile de Pollera. I couldn't wait to hang it so I could enjoy it every day!

Baile de Pollera is so striking. Dad captured a couple dancing together in a very simplistic manner. Although there are two figures in this work, the focus is obviously on the woman. Dad achieved this by painting the background in a rich color. Although he used a single-color palette, the background is far from being a boring, drab solid color. When looking into the composition, you can feel the light shining back at you. The color expresses the feeling, the mood, and the moving individuals. 

Dad was the first artist in Panama to paint the pollera dancers. His first painting was in 1975. The background of his first painting is very similar to the background of Baile de Polleras. This is a staple of his early work. It wasn't until the early 1980's when Dad's style of painting the polleras began to change. 

I feel very lucky to own Baile de Polleras as it is one of his early works capturing the beautiful tradition of the pollera dancers of Panama. I display it proudly and will continue to display it for years to come all because Dad kept his promise he made way back when I was the young age of ten years old!