Jack Balas, 2021;
RUNNING HOME (#2122)
Oil, enamel, acrylic and ink on canvas, 48x60 inches
The football team was out at its first practice of the fall, ten-year-old grade school boys in helmets doing laps around their field. I was out for a walk, and my eyes stayed on the slowest pudgy kid bringing up the rear. That could've been me, but I never played. Mom even tried to bribe me at 50 cents a pop to run from the corner on my way home from school. I tried a few times but it wasn't the right incentive and I lost interest. But what ten or twenty or fifty years won't do for a guy. When I started this painting it was only Alex here and I didn't know how it would turn out. But I took the walk, saw the boys, and knew I had the story. These days more and more every story or photo or painting---they are all running home.
