Luisely's Cape

House paint, soft pastel on wood

Though it was completed in 2010 and sold shortly thereafter, I still have a special bond with this painting. I went to Haiti in 2010 after their catastrophic earthquake. On the plane, I sat next to a woman named Luisely who was moving there to be a missionary. We had great conversation the entire flight. At one point she asked me, "If you were a superhero and had to wear a cape, what color or colors would it be?" I said orange and grey, naturally. I asked her the same question and she said, "Purple and turquoise, and maybe some yellow." I remember being struck with the sense that I had probably never done anything with that combination of colors. When I returned to the U.S., I decided I wanted to see if I could make a compelling painting with those three colors. This was the result. I love the sense of temperature and light that the painting conveys.