MichaelWhelan , to random
@MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art avatar

OUT OF THE SHADOWS (2014)
Acrylic on Panel - 12" x 24"

With this painting I revisit themes developed in my "Passage" series, featured heavily in my first couple of one-man shows at the Tree’s Place gallery. 1/3

Two transparent spheres, each containing a single white flame, float through an arcing concrete passage. The curved walls are structured in rough rectangular panels. Strips of rusted metal trim run parallel to a path of dirt cut into the stone floor and lead around a bend and out to open air. On the wall closest (lower right panel) is a weathered 5-pointed star painted in yellow.
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    • MichaelWhelan , to random
    @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art avatar

    PASSAGE: THE RED STEP (1988)
    Acrylic on Canvas - 44" X 33"

    I was probably clinically depressed when I painted this. Stymied by the first serious artistic block in my illustration career, I felt helpless to do anything but fret for a couple of weeks. 1/2

    Trailing long shadows, small robed figures climb a monumental set of stairs leading through a massive wall. The rough concrete exterior is grimy, rust stained, and worn through to rebar in patches while the side walls forming the passage are glossy and smooth. On the other side, the sun burns pale behind layers of thick fog. The last three steps tint golden with the transition to a flat platform. Low in the sky beyond, a transparent sphere containing a solitary flame flares in a starburst that casts a glare back down the stairs. Light intersects a squat red step nearly hidden—despite its color—because it spans less than one-third the width of the transitional steps. Only one figure, now nearing the top of the stairs, is illuminated by the light that crosses it.
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    • MichaelWhelan , to random
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    BROKEN CHAIN (1998)
    Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 24" x 15"

    A simple composition with a fairly simple message. On our way to the next plane, we leave behind earthly pleasures and some small marks on our environment.

    https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/broken-chain/

    Detail of BROKEN CHAIN featuring a red glass heart tied on a string and discarded among deeply shadowed footprints in white sand.
    Detail of BROKEN CHAIN featuring a single flame contained in a transparent sphere floating above two broken columns tilting inward.

    Set against a baby blue sky, a single flame contained within a transparent sphere floats off between two broken, inward-tilting columns. In the recessed channel of one stone, a rusted chain dangles down to white sand. Links of the broken chain lie mostly buried at the base of the other column. In the immediate foreground, a red glass heart tied on a ribbon lies discarded among deeply shadowed footprints dimpling the sand as they approach the columns.
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