Jack the Lad

This painting came into being by way of a commission.
And a most challenging one at that.
The gentleman you see seated in the center is a loyal patron of the gallery who wanted to immortalize his pup Jack
who is an even more loyal visitor, indeed many would say, ambassador to the gallery.

I met Jack there, in the gallery for our first meeting, on a bright October morning.
He was sitting with rapt attention focused on his pal, or more specifically his pal’s pocket wherein there was a stash of green beans.
I knew instantly that anyone who would carry a pocketful of beans as treats for his dog would be a subject worthy of exploring
and that any pup who would gaze that lovingly into the eyes of a human for…a bean…be still my vegetable gardeners’ heart.

So, the challenging bit that I mentioned at the start was not the subjects themselves,
but rather the fact that there was a very short overlap in our schedules.
We had a  brief time together in the gallery so the pressure was on
but I needn’t have worried. I fell instantly in love with both of them.
It was easy to do as neither of them ever stopped smiling.

Jack, the lad, wandered freely among the paintings and antiques but his spirit was primarily drawn to people.
He quickly took the measure of each human who entered the gallery and adjusted his greeting accordingly.
The wagging bushy tail, energetic and playful with a group of young children
then softly gently laying down before a woman and her cane
and always, always with one of those soulful brown eyes checking back in with the bean man Himself.

The Granary Gallery is a special place.
That big old Red Barn is more like a general store than an art gallery,
at least for the regular patrons, and the year round Islanders.
Like the bar at Cheers, where everybody knows your name,
new friendships are made and old ones deepen each time the bell rings above the opening door
and the owners and staff make the kind of genuinely gracious human connections
which these days is an art all of its own.

Looking back now, despite the brevity of our meeting, or maybe because of it,
what lingered throughout the months afterwards, as I worked to find my way into this commission,
was the tender upbeat energy that those two souls exuded.
This painting became a blended portrait both of them and the gallery itself.

There are lots of details which, like the scavenger hunts the Granary makes for the children
to have fun exploring the gallery are just that…fun. But zoom in a bit,
just past the red dots under the cormorant statue, and before you count those blue violet bottles on the window shelves
just there beneath the table, at the foot of the tie-dyed man
you will see what this painting is really all about.

The heart tugging twinkle in that all adoring look
that tells us all we need to know of Jack the Lad…
and all we need of love.