KIEFERART FINE ART UP CLOSE

kieferart
FINE ART UP CLOSE

"Heavy Metal"
Oil on canvas, 40" x 30"
$400 (US customers only) PURCHASE INFO

This is a taconite plant on the North Shore of Minnesota. It was bitter cold. Lake Superior was semi-frozen. It was just breezy enough to penetrate a down coat. From the highway you really couldn't see much of the lake, but I had an instinct about this so hiked up the steep, icy embankment to get a better look. I was sure the plant's "NO TRESPASSING!" sign was just a suggestion. As I reached the top, I turned and was rewarded with a breathtaking view of the lake. (The odor coming from the plant's smoke stack was breathtaking as well.) This is the same location as seen in my painting "Plan B". As I stood there shivering, taking reference photographs in all directions, I suddenly got a little nervous and slid my way back to the car.

A few weeks later when flipping through those photos, I remembered what I felt up there. My emotions had been mixed: the awe of witnessing grandeur and the thrill of breaking the law (not something I'm accustomed to doing.) It put me in mind of edgy, uninhibited, self-destructive youth. I was compelled to include a few of them in this scene. And so you see a rough likeness of Kurt Cobain sitting on the apex of the roof, having repelled the building first, then tethering a rope to the chimney for, say, Layne Staley and three others to follow. I figured this might be a likely pasttime for the uneasy souls of those whose lives were unnecessarily cut short. I do miss them and their music. But now, everytime I drive past that plant, I'll look up and wonder.

BACK TO THUMBNAILS

HOME

INTRODUCTION

FINE ART GALLERY

PORTRAIT GALLERY

COMMISSION INFO & PRICING

CARDS/WRITING

LESSONS

KIEFER