"Open Road" depicts the handlebar of a Harley Davidson 2000 Electra Glide being gripped by Bill wearing his Harley gauntlet. As the handlebar is all of the bike that is painted and the gauntlet is all of the person that is painted, I merely hinted at both the bike and the person. The bike and the person are painted into the lower left of the painting. Because the moment is frozen, there exists the possibility that perhaps the viewer and the subject are one. Questions come to mind. Is the rider the viewer? Or is the view the rider riding beside the rider? All of these evocations make the viewer feel that they have entered a virtual reality. The landscape is of a storm near Eastend in the Cypress hills of Saskatchewan, 40 miles north of the Montana border. As always, brushes and cloths were the tools I used to apply the paint. "Open Road" took 9 months to complete.
The idea for this painting came about as a need to express the feeling of riding when optimum conditions are no longer on the menu. The leather of the black Harley Davidson gauntlet, so realistically painted that it can almost be felt, imparts a feeling of power verging on menace. It might have been worn by a highway man in medieval times, ready to rob the coin from a fellow traveler. The threatening sky provides a sense of urgency. The rider must ride fast to make it to the clear skies at the horizon. All of the elements impart a sense of drama to "Open Road".
Manon Elder