Week 16. "Electra" 20"x24" oil on canvas

Not very often, but every once in a while, I lose interest in a painting even though I've already put a lot of time and energy into it. When this happens it's often because things are developing in such a way that does not fit with how I originally envisioned it. In other words, I'm unable to adapt to the "now" that's happening in the piece. So I put the canvas aside and let it rest. In the case of "Electra" I let it rest for about three or four years! Then, a few weeks ago while rearranging my storage area I found her again, literally and metaphorically. I took one look at the well established but very incomplete picture and knew that I could finish it. I had let my preliminary vision go and could see what needed to happen instead of only seeing what I wanted to force to happen.
The story of Electra is from Greek mythology. When Electra's father returns from the Trojan War he is murdered by her mother and uncle. Electra becomes consumed by a desire for vengeance. For a time she lives, insane and feral, in the wilderness until she and her brother are able to revenge their father. In the eyes of the world she's surely justified in her miseries and actions... right? Maybe, but for me this painting is a direct contrast to "Joseph and Potiphar's Wife". Where as Joseph was able to forgive, move forward and accomplish much, Electra becomes stuck. A satellite with a low orbit circling one single event in time; alive but not living. That's truly tragic.

Week 8. "Zeus and the Queen Bee" 30"x40"

"A queen bee from Hymettus flew up to Olympus with some fresh honey from the hive as a present to Jupiter, who was so pleased with the gift that he promised to give her anything she liked to ask for. She said she would be very grateful if he would give stings to the bees, to kill people who robbed them of their honey. Jupiter was greatly displeased with this request, for he loved mankind. But he had given his word, so he said that stings they should have. The stings he gave them, however, were of such a kind that whenever a bee stings a man the sting is left in the wound, and the bee dies. Evil wishes, like fowl, come home to roost." Aesop's fable, The Bee and Jupiter as translated by V. S. Vernon Jones.