This was painted after Bert had returned to live in Yarra Glen. It was where he didn’t have much desire to paint but would occasionally whip out the paints, find a spare bit of board and go nuts. This one was quite a personal painting and is where he started to push the direction of his abstract art.
There are numerous bits of thick paint bits stuck into the painting. They are dried up remnants of acrylic paint bottles and tubes. There’s a metaphor in there.
Dimensions: 36x33cm
Painted: 2015
Materials: Acrylic on MDF board
Private collection
The story behind Humans looking for love
All too often, human beings do not lead fulfilling lives. They spend their entire life looking for ‘meaning’ and still they never find anything that makes life a rewarding experience.
Too many people will engage in self-destructive behavior as a substitute for this lack of something, this lack of meaning, this lack of the joy of life. In almost all cases that something is the most powerful force – love. Love for oneself. Love for others.
In this painting, I have painted some of the people I have known (and myself) who are going about their time on earth with little purpose. They are sitting around smoking lots of cannabis and doing nothing productive – just avoiding the sad reality of life. These behaviors get repeated ad-infinitum, and they never provide what the human soul needs. There is a sort of dull, blurred, monotonous existence where nobody sees through the green haze of cannabis addiction. They waste their time, money, and health on this stupid drug addiction.
Life does have its ups and downs, and those individuals who have some healthy, loving relationships with friends, family, and the community around them are best protected by what life throws at us. It’s a pity that not many humans get the love that they need.
Detail views of abstract painting Humans looking for love
