Monday, April 11, 2011

Sweet 16


Sweet 16
Not one kiss
Tried 'em all
Missed!

Oh well...

There was a shy innocence in those years:  girls dancing in a group, boys hamming it up in their corner, everyone hoping to attract the attention of the other.
Music  –  louder the better  –  was the pathway towards dissolving inhibitions.  Romance, as we knew it from the movies, began at a prom always ending with a tender kiss  –  we seem to have missed what was in between. 
My poor mother coming down the basement stairs, aghast at the chaos and Pa, carrying the birthday cake is, as always, oblivious.


Oil  40" x 30"

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

wow! every person viewing this has a memory of a basement "social". you've painted a brilliant poem and commentary on an era! love the details, referring to the old masters of the late renaissance in the format. i see vermeer and raphael all over this.