The Second Sadness was one of the first pieces in Out of Place.

The first layer is obvious: an elephant doesn’t belong in a dirty city alley.

The second layer is the painting itself.

I deliberately stopped before it was finished.

Starting things has rarely been my problem. Ideas are everywhere. I can get intensely excited about something, throw myself into it, and then suddenly find myself pulled toward the next thing.

Finishing is different.

So leaving this painting unfinished became part of the painting.

You’re not only looking at an animal somewhere it doesn’t belong. You’re also looking at another reality of the mind that created it — something started with energy and intention that never reached the version it was ‘supposed’ to become.

It was actually difficult for me to leave it that way.

One day I may paint this image again, much larger, and finish every part of it.

This one will stay unfinished.