a Father's love....

Tai Yau

Figurative Abstract

Acrylic on 24"x 18" (1.5) canvas

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For commissions contact: Elizabeth

This was recently completed as a commissioned piece by a man who would like to have an artist's interpretation done of family photos to collect and hang in his home. The photograph of his father was taken in Kansas City in May of 1956. Yes, that is right-May!! Ten inches of snow fell overnight and was pretty much mush by the next day. If you happen to live in the Springfield area you may have known this man or at least eaten at his restaurant. The man's name was Tai Yau, (pronounced Tie Yow) an Oriental Hawaian, and the name of his restaurant was Johnny Loo's Steakhouse.

His son Greg gave me a small black and white photograph to work from and pretty much just told me he wanted me to paint it as I liked. I started with the figure in a looser realistic manner, because I wanted the resemblance of his father to be there. The back ground was worked in layers and in a much more abstract manner with cooler colors being used to emphasize the cold weather. Greg has also told us how much his mother and father liked red and gold. In fact, he remembers every house he ever lived in growing up as having red carpet. So, knowing this I used touches of these colors for Tai's clothes and to contrast against the cooler background.

As I painted, I thought about the remarkable resemblance between this father and his son. Also, I thought about how much love this father would later have for a son that was not yet born when this photo was taken. A photograph of a man shoveling snow, known as a hard worker, Tai Yau would work for the rest of his entire life for his family. A picture of a loving Father, sacrificing for his family. In return he has a son that loves him so much that his wish is to bring him honor and glory. Thank you Greg!!! Hope you like it!

Christ is the visible image of the invisible Father. Colossians 1:15

Daily Abstract Painter Elizabeth Chapman

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