It's A Brave New World. Or Is It?

With all that's been going on in the world, I wish I could be as hopeful as the title of my newest painting.

Yes, it's called "Brave New World" which happens to be the same title of the book written by Aldous Huxley back in 1931 that told the story of a dystopian society whose citizens were environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hierarchy.

I can't say that the book was the driving force behind this painting. I'm not even sure if I've ever even read it! But I did know the basic plot structure and the combination of our ongoing pandemic and all the recent social unrest got me to wondering, "How would a child view today's world?"

That simple thought led me to the visual for this painting - a young boy in pajamas, looking out his bedroom window at the world which is hovering above the clouds.

It makes no sense. But to me, it makes perfect sense. Because if we could all do a better job of viewing the world through the eyes of a child (one of my favorite Moody Blues songs), we might all see what a beautiful, wonderful world that we all live in.

There's a certain innocence to this painting and to me, a magical quality to it as well. The curtains, the sky and the boy's pajamas were all painted rather loosely but at the same time are very well defined. The back of the boy's head might be my best rendition yet involving hair with a few curly locks and some light highlights adding to his overall look.

A few people have asked if I intended the wooden slits (also called muntin) to symbolize a cross. No, that wasn't the intent. But if that's what one sees, I can't really object.

Technique-wise, I think this is one of my best paintings yet. And conceptually? I can only wish that the magic and wonder of seeing the world from the eyes of a child fits the title a lot better than the Brave New World that Aldous envisioned.