DENNIS JACKSON

COMMISSION

Oils on canvas

130 x 90cm

.

This is my best friend, Tim Jackson’s grandfather, Dennis Jackson. Tim was very close to him as he grew up. He died some time ago.
In doing this piece, I was lucky enough to have access to a photograph that was quite beautiful in itself. I don’t know very much about him, but I could see his gravitas, his dignity and kindness, in the image. It was a common 19thc belief that our sins would age us, and impress upon our features their ugliness. If that is so, then Tim’s grandfather must indeed have been a good man. I hope that I was able to capture the gentleness and goodness that were obvious to me in the photograph.
I painted it in four or five days, or at least that is what I remember (which is never too accurate when not concerned with text.) Though saying I did finish it in that time doesn’t really convey the amount of work that was necessary… I worked for 19 hours or more, punctuated with four or five hours of medicated sleep, each day. If I had dreamed, which as far as I know, I never do, it would have been of paint.
The problem with this was not so much that I needed to do this, but that I needed to do this piece immediately after completing the Locke family portrait, where I had worked similar hours, and for a longer time.
Such results, though. This is one of the most satisfying jobs that any person could ever have. I begin the day with some artistic materials – some paint, some canvas – and at the end of the day, or week, or months, I have something beautiful that was not in the world before I started. Tim’s reaction was powerful to me, and I shall hold it in my heart for the rest of my life.
There is a little more to it, though. I use high quality materials – they are actually called “archival quality.” A piece such as this should last for generations, if not centuries. Members of Tim’s family – his children – will be able to see through the translation of human hands and paint and time, the warmth of their grandfather. And so should Tim’s grandchildren.