u/AlanSchwartzArt

Inspired by The Rolling Stones’ Paint It Black, this painting explores the darkness that can follow the loss of love, a future, and a version of yourself you thought would remain. A red door, buried beneath black, becomes a threshold between what was and what remains. Light struggles to escape the darkness, while traces of color persist, because even after profound loss, something within us refuses to disappear.

I made this painting as a gift for my former wife’s first art therapy office. Does it give you peaceful vibes? We were married at the time, this was several years ago. I was very happy to be contributing to her first office and to help her make it uniquely her own. It was meant to go with the furniture and the space, and to be vague enough that it gave general Pacific Northwest vibes without being specific. Totally open to feedback.

I painted this last night as a way of processing my thoughts and feelings about my beloved stepfather, and the extraordinary life he has shared with so many people.

Papa has always been a source of wisdom, steadiness, guidance, simplicity, and kindness. When people were at rock bottom, he showed up. Sometimes at a hospital, sometimes wherever he was needed. He had a way of helping people find their footing again and guiding them toward putting their lives back together. He became a source of strength and wisdom for countless people through a program that I shouldn’t name.

He was always there for me, too. After working for the Department of Water and Power for so many years, he was the person I could call whenever I had to deal with something electrical and wanted to make sure I didn’t die. And I’m still here, so obviously it worked.

He was there for my mother, my grandfather, my brothers, my former wife, me, and my children. He was a wonderful Papa to my boys as well, from the days that they were born until now. I’ll always remember the powwows we attended together and the many times he offered me his thoughtful guidance.

The wolf represents his strength, loyalty, and spirit. The turquoise reminds me of him and the turquoise rings he has always worn. The dream catcher represents his Native heritage, the world of dreams and spirit, and the great mystery of what lies beyond this life.

As he prepares for his journey beyond this life, I don’t pretend to know what awaits him. The many Native traditions hold different understandings of the spirit world, but what lies beyond our understanding remains the Great Mystery.

I painted this as an offering of love and gratitude for a man who spent his life showing up for others.

And perhaps the words that best capture his spirit are the words he was famous for saying:
“Life is for living, and I live a life.”, and he truly has!

I made this painting about 27 years ago, based on a photograph that I took of the view from the front door of my very first apartment. These kids loved hanging out on Saturdays and just enjoying life.

When I was a teenager, I spent a lot of time drawing and painting in our finished basement. The downside was that my art supplies tended to spread out everywhere. Paint tubes, brushes, pencils, erasers, paper… basically, the entire contents of an art store would eventually end up on the carpet.

My dad hated this.

Every time he came downstairs and saw my supplies on the floor, I’d hear some version of:
“I’ve told you a thousand times! Don’t leave that stuff on the carpet! You’re going to ruin it!”

So one day, I decided to turn his frustration into an innocent little prank.

I painted a picture of a woman, but I also painted a bunch of art supplies scattered around the drawing. I tried to make them ridiculously realistic. Paint tubes, brushes, a pencil, an eraser, shadows, everything. I even painted the tiny little crumbs of eraser that get left behind when you’ve been working.

Then I put a real sheet of paper next to the painting and lined up the edges so it looked like there were two pieces of paper sitting on the carpet with all my art supplies lying around them.
Then I walked away and waited.
Sure enough, Dad came downstairs.
He saw the floor.

I could practically hear the gears turning.
He called me downstairs and immediately let me have it.

“Why did you leave your art supplies on the floor AGAIN? How many times have I told you not to do this?”
I calmly said, “I didn’t.”
He pointed directly at the floor.
“What do you mean you didn’t?! It’s RIGHT THERE!”
I kept denying it.

At this point, he was genuinely getting annoyed because, from his perspective, I was standing there looking at a giant pile of art supplies and pretending they weren’t there.

Finally, he stopped and looked a little closer.
Then closer.

And suddenly he realized…
There were no art supplies on the floor.

He’d been yelling at a painting.

He completely cracked up.

The best part was that I hadn’t just painted a pile of random objects. I’d deliberately recreated the exact mess that had been driving him crazy for years, just to make him think I’d done it again.
I was a teenager, so naturally I considered this a perfectly reasonable use of my artistic abilities.

Looking back, I think it might have been one of my earliest successful pieces of conceptual art:
“Dad Yells at Painting.” 😂

When I was a teenager, I spent a lot of time drawing and painting in our finished basement. Unfortunately, I also tended to leave my art supplies everywhere. My dad hated seeing paint, brushes, pencils and other supplies sitting on the carpet and would regularly give me the “I’ve told you a thousand times not to leave that stuff on the floor!” speech.

So one day I decided to mess with him.
I painted a picture of a woman, but around the drawing I painstakingly painted my art supplies scattered across the floor. Paint tubes, brushes, a pencil, an eraser, even the tiny little pieces of eraser that get left behind. I also put a real piece of paper underneath the painting and lined everything up so it looked like two sheets of paper with my supplies sitting on top of them.

Then I left it on the basement floor.
Sure enough, Dad came downstairs, saw the “mess,” and called me down.
“Why did you leave your art supplies on the floor AGAIN? I’ve told you a thousand times!”
I looked at him and said, “I didn’t.”
He pointed at the floor. “What do you mean you didn’t? It’s RIGHT THERE!”
I kept denying it while he got increasingly frustrated. Finally, he looked closer and realized he’d been yelling at a painting.
He completely cracked up.

I had spent hours creating a perfectly realistic mess specifically so my dad would get angry about a mess that didn’t actually exist.
Teenage me was apparently pretty good at both art and being a smartass.

I painted this scene in many layers over a years time. Each layer signified a range of distance from the viewer, and the closer to the viewer, the more detail and textured this painting gets. It is impossible to show just how much texture this painting has, but when you see it in person you just want to touch it!

I wish I could have seen it in person, but I really enjoyed all the amazing photographs and art inspired by the recent solar eclipse and I felt like I wanted to contribute.