The Fire Starter
A young man starting fires in the jungle6 total reviews
Comment from Kathy Banich
Interesting yet alarming - that said, art is suppose to stir thought, interest and imagination and you have capitalized on all three in this piece. It was interesting to track my thoughts from 1) Oh, a nice day in the woods with birds flying and vegetation taking in some vitamin D, to 2) suddenly seeing the flame and thinking about people burning flags and then 3) the fires in Australia (killing so much wildlife). A thought provoking piece executed with great skill in storytelling, composition and illustration. Nice.
reply by the author on 18-Feb-2020
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Interesting yet alarming - that said, art is suppose to stir thought, interest and imagination and you have capitalized on all three in this piece. It was interesting to track my thoughts from 1) Oh, a nice day in the woods with birds flying and vegetation taking in some vitamin D, to 2) suddenly seeing the flame and thinking about people burning flags and then 3) the fires in Australia (killing so much wildlife). A thought provoking piece executed with great skill in storytelling, composition and illustration. Nice.
Comment Written 17-Feb-2020
reply by the author on 18-Feb-2020
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Thank you so much again. A six star review!
Comment from cleo85
This painting is a tantalizing mystery. I have the feeling you have another story in the making where the mythical world of Latin America met the reality of the jungle.
reply by the author on 16-Feb-2020
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This painting is a tantalizing mystery. I have the feeling you have another story in the making where the mythical world of Latin America met the reality of the jungle.
Comment Written 16-Feb-2020
reply by the author on 16-Feb-2020
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Thank you so very much; actually this depicts a recollection of real life. The fire starter is a schizophrenic who was the cousin of a staff member of my father's dubious "camp school/rehabilitation center/cult" on San Gil Mountain in Guatemala. The poor administrator was afraid to try and restrain the young fire starter for fear of angering the staff member, so followed him around and put the fires out behind him somehow. The schizophrenic told me his intention was some kind of American Indian ritual to cleanse evil spirits. This is an illustration I included in my monster memoir of those times. This administrator also wrote an extensive memoir of his own about those times, that an unscrupulous filmmaker made into a documentary with doctored, fiction facts, that I participated in with no clue what the despot was up to, lol.... Had he only known, the real truth was worse than his hysterical fiction. I wrote my memoir as a rebuttal to the insane film he made that has been splattered all over Latin America, Cuba, and France and probably other European countries by now. Then over time the only bite I got on my unusual memoir that would pay its own way, was from a librettist who has written for Broadway interested in doing a Military/ romantic comedy in the wrapper of my crazy life with WWII veteran parents gone off the deep end, and my first romance.... She is working with me on turning it into a musical for Broadway -- this sounds so unlikely! My father being British, it turns out having a bit of the flavor of the film with Peter O'Toole, the Ruling Class that follows the theory that a nobleman thinking he was Jesus, becomes Jack the Ripper. Enjoy the real life implications of this scene...
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You're most welcome. :o)
The real life implications seem more astounding than any fictional story. There is indeed an ancient ritual of the Mayan People, still celebrated today, where dancers with torches drive out malignant spirits.
Comment from jesuel
Just like the idiots who started those fires in Australia the color is great the detail is great love the message it sends love the sky beautiful work here
reply by the author on 16-Feb-2020
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Just like the idiots who started those fires in Australia the color is great the detail is great love the message it sends love the sky beautiful work here
Comment Written 16-Feb-2020
reply by the author on 16-Feb-2020
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Thanks so much for appreciating this one!
Comment from ReginaL
I really can't find anything bad to say about this picture. I like the cutesy, cutesy look you gave it and I think that your sky is amazing. Good job and two thumbs up on this one.
reply by the author on 15-Feb-2020
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I really can't find anything bad to say about this picture. I like the cutesy, cutesy look you gave it and I think that your sky is amazing. Good job and two thumbs up on this one.
Comment Written 15-Feb-2020
reply by the author on 15-Feb-2020
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Thank you so much for your VERY kind review.
Comment from alaskapat
Wow! This is a well illustrated story, I can see this as a page in a storybook, it shows the pyromaniac setting fire to the large carpet or blanket hanging on the line as another man, possibly the owner of the blanket is watching , the details here are very well thought out, and applied, the colors and tones are well chosen, it's such a great storytelling scene! Well presented!
reply by the author on 13-Jan-2020
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Wow! This is a well illustrated story, I can see this as a page in a storybook, it shows the pyromaniac setting fire to the large carpet or blanket hanging on the line as another man, possibly the owner of the blanket is watching , the details here are very well thought out, and applied, the colors and tones are well chosen, it's such a great storytelling scene! Well presented!
Comment Written 12-Jan-2020
reply by the author on 13-Jan-2020
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Thanks so much!
Comment from Mr Jones
the wonderful image is both so topical and very, very sad at the same time. you made a great tribute piece to one horrific pass-time! the destruction of the nature is horrid for sure. you created some brilliant and intricate details and the crazy aspect of mankind has never been more evident. the beautiful creatures give the viewer a further tinge of sadness; even abject horror (of subsequent action).
reply by the author on 22-Jan-2020
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the wonderful image is both so topical and very, very sad at the same time. you made a great tribute piece to one horrific pass-time! the destruction of the nature is horrid for sure. you created some brilliant and intricate details and the crazy aspect of mankind has never been more evident. the beautiful creatures give the viewer a further tinge of sadness; even abject horror (of subsequent action).
Comment Written 12-Jan-2020
reply by the author on 22-Jan-2020
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Thank you so VERY much for your enthusiastic and thoughtful review!! I sure thought I replied to this one too.... The schizophrenic who started fires was my neighbor there on the mountain in the jungle asylum! I actually thought that except for starting fires he was saner than the management. He was trying to chase away demons also trying to get warm. It would get quite cold up there in the high, damp jungle; this he lit his hut on fire periodically; most of the time it was too damp to burn well, but sometimes it disappeared under black smoke until people arrived to put the fire out. There is a cartoon -- Jon's hut with multiple tarps draped over the holes in his burnt roof looking like blackened swish cheese..... enjoy!