it’s been over a year since i posted this painting- apart from being really honored by all the praise, it’s also been fascinating to see the comments people have made about the emotions it evokes. especially since there’s a bit of a pattern in its interpretation that’s.. completely accurate despite being entirely unintentional.
i made this for a painting class during my junior year of college- i had moved from a dorm building into a house and for the first time i was almost entirely alone. the house wasn’t a home yet, and i was anxiously trying to make it feel more like one (which in my case meant teaching myself to cook as a complete beginner.) after i posted this painting i saw dozens of comments on how the scene so accurately reflects this desperate desire for domesticity, this almost futile attempt at wholesomeness. people i had never spoken to looked at the colors, and the brush strokes, and the unsettling sense of space, and understood that i was doing my best to deal with my loneliness.
i wasn’t thinking about any kind of loneliness while i was making this piece, i was just doing my best to paint a colorful study of an onion on a cutting board in my kitchen.
not sure exactly what that says; something about art being so pure a form of communication that it can’t help but lay your feelings out bare for all to see, regardless of the painter’s intentions. i spent years struggling to find my footing in art, trying to rationalize all my techniques so i could make sure i was effectively saying what i wanted to say, as if i could find a formula for painting. maybe i don’t have to try that hard; maybe it happens automatically. maybe no one has to try that hard.
maybe i’ll make another study of this kitchen- see what the painting will say after a year and a half of filling the room with warmth and laughter and friends with full stomachs.
i guess i wanna say thank you onion painting fans for the encouragement and the insight; you taught me a lot. also if you’re about to let an artist know that their painting looks like a spongebob screencap can you first check the notes to make sure they haven’t already been told by several thousand people👍 sorry for turning the original post into destiel
