Naked Granpa, Family Tree

Naked Granpa is painted from a small, off-center Polaroid taken in the early 1970s. My grandfather is bathing in a lake near Como Bluff, Wyoming, where the family would often camp in the summer. The scene is idyllic and nostalgic, showing a farmer's tan and a tenderness. This prairie lake was a very special spot, an oasis in the high desert. In the decades since, cattle ranching has fouled this lake, so it exists only in memory and art.

Family Tree is a fun fantasy about family lineage and the unpredictability of decedents. Family trees tend to be documents of reverence, so I enjoyed turning it into a comical scene.