#100Days Day 11

#100Days Day 11: my painting

When I was a sophomore in high school, I took an art class. It was pretty good: the teacher, who was about seventy (or that's how old she seemed to me) let us use a very wide variety of media, including acrylic paint. We had just been studying abstract expressionists; and of course, being the rage-filled teen that i was, I fell in love with that style. So, I took every color of paint I could, covered a large canvas in black, and attacked it with these short, furious strokes. Chaotic, but ordered.

I really liked the finished product, and when I proudly showed it to my teacher, she said, "wonderful! Do you know what I see? A school of fish!"
I just looked at her. I was speechless. I was like, lady, this is not even remotely a school of fish. This is me fighting with my mom, this is me protecting my younger brother, this is me trying to stay under the radar to avoid danger, this is me pushing my bullies against the lockers so I get the first strike. "Do I have to make them fish?"
She was insistent. She took a brush and showed me where to put the "eyes" on them. I was like, ok, fine, I want a good grade in art, I'll do what you say. But I never forgot it. I was so pissed.

So I made a replica of the painting, using a digital painting app, 42 years later...without the eyes. Take that, probably dead art teacher.

If someone tries to tell you what your art is, that's fine if that's what they see; but don't change it to suit them. Totally defeats the purpose.
It's not friggin fish.