Artwork & Words © Richard Ewing all rights reserved

Artwork & Words © Richard Ewing all rights reserved

Sunday, July 10, 2011

IF ...stay

Father and son teams are not unique in presidential history. The Adams duo was the first ~and only other, pair ~(the Harrisons skipped a generation). The Bush family came to stay on and off in the last two decades ~one of them even had a quail for a vice president, begging the question: Was a bird in the house worth two of the Bush?
© Richard Ewing all rights reserved

© Richard Ewing all rights reserved
© Richard Ewing all rights reserved
© Richard Ewing all rights reserved
Thank you and enjoy.

13 comments:

  1. This is so great, do you hear me laughing?

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  2. Love the wonky line on Bush the elder. Thanks for a great laugh.

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  3. Great caricatures of 41 and 43! I am British so hopefully you can forgive my ignorance on this subject..is the fork reference to a hand sign that George jnr. made in Arizona? Why the green (which looks great BTW)...aren't Republicans red?
    I like making research on your work..but this one got me stumped!

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  4. This is an amusing reference to Grant Wood's American Gothic. And a sad commentary on the typical American family. They certainly overstayed their welcome, in my opinion anyway. I especially like Bush the younger, with mouth agape and blank stare … no original thoughts here. Is there a subtle reference to Dick Cheney in the pitchfork? It's wonderful! Your twisted carickatures are dead on.

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  5. Your interpretations always crack me up! Another nice one!

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  6. This is such a big belly laugh because of its insight into the very real world these two fostered, very much an American Gothic.

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  7. Thanks for all the comments everyone.
    Rod asked about a few issues here, so I'll elucidate as much as I can. The fork, as has been mentioned now, is a direct pull from Grant Wood's American Gothic, I was contemplating compositions of famous paintings that celebrated inertia problems. (High in the running was "Whistler's Mother" as can be seen in the early thumbnail stages). Wood's American Gothic seemed to show a more appropriately defiant 'stay' attitude for the Bushes, so I went with that one.
    For a Brit I'm surprised you knew about the Bush/Arizona/shocker gesture... was it so internationally publicized?

    (Mardi, yes, the twisty pitchfork hints at someone's twisty smile...I didn't think anyone would notice ~ha!).

    The green/orange palette is more in reference to how something static might feel in terms of color mood. ~~think leftovers, forgotten in the back of the fridge.


    .

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  8. No..I just googled George Bush and Fork and the gesture shocker came up. It has surprised me that I wasn't aware of Grant Wood's American Gothic. It all makes sense now. Apologies for asking you to reveal the hidden secrets of your work...However its good to learn something new..at least once a day..(makes me realise the shallow depth of my own work!!)

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  9. My first thought was a devil's pitchfork, but okay, I see American Gothic now. I especially like the way you stretched out and twisted Sr.

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  10. Oooh, my goodness! I would love to feature your wonderful work on next week's FATuesday Artist Spotlight!

    You really made me laugh. Thank you. I needed that today.

    (grin)

    Have a lovely week!

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  11. That pitchfork does look like Cheney! and is sharper then dumb and dumber. Poor George W looks so pathetic. He would look swell in a bonnet and bush number one has the tortured feel of someone trying to bend himself to twisted thinking. still miss the white house

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  12. Heh, I am laughing too, especially on your commentary, thank you again for showing us your workup, it's like magic eh, how a piece of blank paper/canvas can be worked up into seomthing that evokes such emotional responses

    see you! :)

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  13. "Leftovers forgotten in the fridge?" Now that's quite a color description! You nailed those two. That portrait is unforgettable. Congrats.

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