Coming of Age

The terms bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah “bar” is used for a boy, while “bat” is used for a girl. It is the coming of age for 13 year old boys and girls. I’ve been to a bat mitzvah, a niece of my daughter in-law. I so enjoyed the readings, rituals and overall. ceremony. The food afterwards was pretty awesome too. So why am I talking about this coming of age event? It’s why I was asked to do this commission.

This commission felt like “meant to be” kind of thing. So one day a few months back I had stopped at a medical supply store. Not my favorite type of store, but while I was there a woman came up to me asking about my shoes. You see I was wearing my painted Sylvester and Tweety bird canvas shoes. She noticed. She asked who painted them. Me!!!! I tell her, I painted them. She said she just thought of a painting idea but didn’t know any artists to ask. Then here I am working into her office.

She explains that her son loves basketball, loves Space Jam and this June he will have his bar mitzvah. They are throwing a party and she wanted something special. I get special.

She describes a 4’x3’ clear plastic panel that she wanted painted. She has a huge light box to put this panel in. She wanted the Space Jam logo in the center and instead of Labron James she wanted her son Henry. On party day, guests will autograph the panel with well wishes. I have never painted on a big piece of plastic before, but I love a challenge. I did some searching on the internet and putting acrylic paint on plastic is a common thing.

Like any new endeavor it turned out more challenging then I expected. It takes several coats of paint before it looks right. The more I painted on it the more I loved it. At the end I was excited to see what Henry thought, what his patents thought of what I did. I felt joy at the end of this project.

That’s why I paint. It’s for the rush. It’s for that feeling I get when I put my heart into a painting. I feel all warm inside and I’m smiling. 😎