Art Class Interrupted

24" x 36" Oil on Canvas SOLD

When I was a sophomore in High School I met a super-rad guy named Matt. On like the fourth day of school he finally showed up to art class and was about 15 minutes late. While our enthusiastic art teacher was in the middle of giving us a lecture, Matt waltzed in reading a Rolling Stone magazine with Slash on the cover. He walked right past her and sat in this antique wicker chair that was placed out as more of a still-life object than a seat for students. The teacher was shocked by the rude interruption and irritably asked, "Can I help you?" To which he looked up and sincerely said, "Oh yea, my name's Matt and I'm suppose to be in this class." He then looked back down at his magazine without missing a beat.
It was pretty cool at the time. We became good friends after that and still are today.

The idea for the painting came after I told this story to Matt's wife. She thought it would make a great painting, so I agreed. It was definitely a challenge to paint this scene from memory without any models, but it was a good test and I am glad the opportunity came up.
Matt is a little older now and not quite the rebel, but is definitely still a cool guy.