The painting rave it up was inspired by the times I went to burning man with my very best friend Rebecca Crandall. The first time I was quite bewildered and somehow got myself left at the entrance and completely lost. I wandered around through the burning man in camp at the sun starting to set and I realize this place is very very big! I wasn't really worried about what would happen to me if I was never found by my friends because the thought seem completely absurd however after two or three hours, it occurred to me that they were over 30,000 people here and the odds of me running into my friends were very low then a woman dressed like a gypsy peaked out from a small tent and she said to me are you all right I said well yes but I'm a little lost. She said well come in for a while and sit and rest. She offered me water and snacks and fruit we started to talking. I told her how I was always getting lost but lately in life, I really didn't mind new sentence. She said that I ought to have some tea and something with electrolytes to replenish my fluids we sat drinking tea and she asked me how long I've been lost and how I've been looking for my friends. I told her that I hadn't really been looking for them so much is wandering around, hoping I would run into Them she said, and by the way, her name was Monica Monica. Cedric Monica said that actually statistically the odds of me running into them were good but that it could take 3 to 5 days. Oh dear, I thought that's a very long time. Monica said it wouldn't be too hard to find one of the camp monitors. These were people with yellow striped, are coveralls who monitor the camp and took care of any minor disturbances. She called out on the little path outside the tent and asked if anybody else had seen a can't monitor recently a couple people came out of their tents. They said they had seen one two rows over not a minute ago. Several of these people ran off to find the camp monitor. I was shocked Monica. I hadn't even told them anything, except that I was a little lost less than a minute later the camp monitor showed up with a walkie-talkie. He radioed his colleagues then he has escorted me to another monitor station and they're my friends were waiting for me! When I painted this painting, the first thing I was thinking of was how wonderful it was to be in a place where people really cared about one other, and reached out to complete strangers who appeared to be in need. Here in the Playa, people wanted to act on their instinct to care. Another thought was the joy with which they assisted me. No one seemed upset or told me I was stupid for getting lost. And everyone was delighted to help! In creating this work I wanted to evoke a sense of boundless joy. I wanted to create the feeling that even though we're all different shapes and sizes and have different moods and colors, if you will, we're all guided by a central spirit. I think that spirit is one of love. I started by covering the canvas in a layer of gesso so that anything else I did would stick to the canvas and not go away then I added a layer of acrylic sealant because I plan to use acrylic markers on the painting experience. It taught me that using acrylic markers directly on Geo destroyed them because the Geo tend to absorb and stick to felt markers So while I was on zoom calls during the pandemic or talking to my friends, I would work on this piece. I worked on it whenever I was feeling a little agitated or blue and just wanted to lift myself up so I worked with different kinds of pens. I worked with acrylic paint pens. I also worked with oil pens, and I even worked with some sharpie pens over the days and months whenever I was blue I would pull out the painting and hide it underneath the screen of my computer so that no one on the zoom call could see what I was working on. Eventually, I had covered the painting with little circles and dots and squares and triangles, and I wasn't sure what it all meant but I was kind of delighted so I covered the whole thing with a layer of archival acrylic gel sealant. I generally almost always work with Matt sealant because I feel like shine gets in the way of seeing into the painting. Then I added some very thin layers of of paint than some pastels. Then another layer of acrylic sealant then I would add some coin crane colors and more sealant than a very little bit of resistance media resistance media are particles that reflect paint and add an iridescence to a painting, I didn't want to overdo it or be obvious and make the painting look like a disco tech however, I did want the painting to have a kind of celebratory lightness. Finally, while I was adding these brush strokes. I got busted. Apparently I was too happy. Go lucky doing the painting and my boss said why do you have a paintbrush in your right hand? Oh, I have a paintbrush in my right hand. I laughed. I had no idea snickered everyone in the meeting. Also, laughed was the joke on me. I think not.

Artwork Size & Ink Base:

61

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Daniel Aaron Schwartz

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