Blanche Hated Caring About Stuff

Blanche Hated Caring About Stuff

"Blanche Hated Caring About Stuff" - oil on Yupo, 11.5 x 16.5. (click on the image to piurchase)

“I hate caring about stuff. But apparently once you start, you can't just stop.”
― MURDERBOT, Martha Wells, Rogue Protocol

My brain wants to care about the wrong kind of stuff.

This is a big part of being a human with anxiety, a history of trauma, a bit (or a lot) of familial dysfunction and a gene mutation which makes one likely to experience anxiety and panic.

​WHAT?  you may say, aghast.  THERE ARE GENES THAT CAUSE ANXIETY?

Well, they may not be the cause of anxiousness, but they do make you likely to jump off that diving board if the opportunity presents itself.  And I've got that gene.  Which I recently discovered (along with a boatload of other important things) through whole genome sequencing.  Which explains a lot, and also opens an entire case of cans of worms.

This leads us to free will.  How much do we have if our very response to stimuli is, in essence, pre-programmed?

It is a lot to ponder.  And Blanche really doesn't want to   Caring about all this stuff (and all the other stuff) takes up too much space in her growing wardrobe of gowns.

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About the art: beginning with an existing painting and murdering it with gesso (this created a lovely texture for the underpainting).  A quick sketch based on values, then roughing in the main colors with walnut oil-thinned paint.  Focus on keeping it loose, accentuating darks and lights.  An oil-wet fan brush was used to drag the ends of the gown shadows into the backdrop as the final touch.   Resisting the urge to give facial features to what is hidden in the dark.  Blanche is a mystery to all.