The Gardener (2012)

A self-portrait. Pretty much all my male ancestors going back at least 150 years have been farmers. My Dad raised pigs and grew corn & soybeans in the heart of Illinois. My parents split when I was tiny but my time with my Dad was spent doing farm work, cleaning hog pens and getting dirty. He would have liked one of his sons to take over the farm but we all had other ideas. Dad shook his head and sighed when I told him I had quit my job to become an artist, but the man was a rock guitarist and a painter himself so I think he knew about following dreams. He wanted me to do "harvesters on another planet" but this was the best I could do for him. It is dedicated to growers everywhere. Unfortunately my Dad had a fatal accident on his farm shortly after I created this and I lost him. He really loved this render though and was very proud of the artist I had become. PS: I included cannabis in the garden because I wouldn't want to travel the stars without it #medicalmmj #crohns