Mixed, 12” x 12”, Framed

AN IMPRESSIONIST PAINTS A MUGSHOT 

By Danny Gammon

What if, instead of the camera’s shutter 

jawing shut to capture a criminal before the bars, we sent impressionists to paint a portrait? How different it might be on the evening news to see the results of, say Cezanne, 

the way he might patiently combine colors off a palette to catch the complexity 

of each jailed life? Perhaps, 

the same colors Cezanne 

might use for a sunset, starry sky, 

mountain top, waves on a beach, 

or two card players, would confront us. 

And then we’d weep at the beauty, 

we’d weep at the colors, including the color of blood, we’d weep at our reflections once the TV blinks off and only the darkness remains.