"The Observers" January 2011

One cold day in January 2011, I visited my father at his wood shop.  I had promised myself to get back into
making art again.  It had been seven years since I had completed any artwork.  So....I was looking for plywood to paint some cool illustrations on.    After sifting through the dirty or splintered boards, I pulled a few good ones to the side. 

 When I got home, I decided to give these boards another look.  After staring at this one in particular....I started to notice how the wood grain patterns at the bottom.....looked VERY MUCH like a watery horizon. 
Upon further inspection, the WHOLE DAMN THING started to look like a specific scene!  Everything seemed crystal clear to me.  This plywood and its natural wavey grained patterns were suggesting a picture.


It looked like a nuclear explosion over an oceanic horizon.....with a UFO spaceship hovering in the foreground at a safe distance.  Keep in mind....this is what I saw in the natural patterns of the grain.  I simply added COLOR to bring that specific scene to life.  If I were to paint a picture of a nuclear explosion over an oceanic horizon with a UFO checking that shit out.....I would paint a much more detailed and elaborate painting than "The Observers." 

The beauty of this finished piece is in the process that it took.  It was found "as is."   Other people will see other scenes when staring at the original nude plywood panel.   Through a little imagination and persistence, I managed to bring a boring and forgotten piece of plywood to life. 

The black frame is hand-cut, assembled, and painted by myself.  The wood was purchased from a local lumber store and was sold as crown molding/trim.  The color of the painted frame is actually called "Charleston Green" and is a very dark green.....so dark that it appears black.  A small color photo of the original nude plywood panel is framed and displayed underneath the larger colored final version.  The small frame was purchased from a store and I sanded the inside border all the way down to grain.

"The Observers"  by Benjamin Andrews Oliver 2011

This painting was my first in seven years.  It is the only one in the world.

Acrylic / Ink / Graphite on Plywood panel