This painting was the result of taking my first panorama photo on a smart phone. The image became a story of the quintessential Canadian “Kitchen Party”. Whether it’s with family or friends, the kitchen becomes the center of every gathering.
By the subjects moving while I took the picture, I was able to extract portraits that embody the stereotypical partyers… the sleeping non drinker, the jealous females, the party animal, and the person who ends up drinking their face off. While not depicting every type of kitchen party, this image represents my experience growing up Canadian.
I remember as a child everyone sitting at the kitchen table with their feet in front of the open stove to warm them when we came in from the cold. Or sitting at the table listening to family stories while I watched my grandmother gently touching her hair to keep it in place. By far the biggest kitchen party I attended was when I was in my teens and we were at a party in a 500 square foot house with Aerosmith’s “Toys in the Attic” playing very loud and on repeat, I’m sure there were at least 50 people crowding around the kitchen and those that weren’t sitting at the table or on the counters were making the whole house shake with their dancing.
I feel very Canadian for having experienced a life full of Kitchen Party’s.