Each of these paintings is a devotional candle lit to honor those who have influenced my work or who I admire. Some references are perhaps more obvious than others: the still life painters Juan Sánchez Cotán, Juan van der Hamen y Leon, Raphaelle Peale, and John Frederick Peto. I admire Cotán for the blending of the spiritual and the mathematical, van der Hamen for richness and juiciness, Peale for revealing the transcendent burning core of the ordinary, and Peto for simplifying the complex relationship between the real and the perceived. To all of these painters I am indebted for their examination of the widest range of experience: from darkest to lightest, from empty to full, from black and white to living color, from positive to negative and back again, and from the void to the middle of everything-all done with paint on a rectangular panel.
    There is a candle to the 17th century Dutch still life painters Willem Kalf, Willem Claesz. Heda, and Rachel Ruysch, for perfecting the art of still life painting using symbolism, composition, color, value, technique, and illusion in a magnificent union, proving the genre a great platform for exploring the multiple facets of painting; there is a candle to Gregory Gillespie, and one to Gordon Cook, for continuing this tradition and pushing it forward. Others represented here have been strong influences at various stages of my development, though they used different subject matter and techniques: Willem de Kooning for his working method and his approach to painting, the Macchiaioli for the construction of the painted surface and the relationship between paint and the panel-or the object the painting is-and Joseph Cornell for the infusion of poetry and self into the subtle arrangement of objects within an object (a box).
    Jimi Hendrix and the Ramones aren't just "painting music," although they are that, too, but their cohesiveness amidst anarchy, the civilization of rage, and the commitment to their medium serve as inspiration as well as warm-up exercise. What all of these artists share, in fact, is an ability to bring forth light out of darkness, and to merge and meld and fold oneself into the medium with conviction, to produce something unique and heavy, and bittersweet.
    There are others for whom I would wish to light a candle: Duccio, 1255-1319, who held on to the traditional selflessness of the past while stepping forward into the new era of painting; Stevie Ray Vaughn and Robert Johnson and the early blues players that preceded them, for providing music that so often matches my painting mood; and Medardo Rosso and Vermeer and the ancient Greeks and the cave painters…..
    But twelve is the mystical number for this little "séance," or homage. And here they are:
     1. Juan Sánchez Cotán, 1561-1627
     2. Juan van der Hamen y Leon, 1596-1631
     3. Dutch 17th century still life painters
     4. Raphaelle Peale, 1774-1825 
     5. The Macchiaioli, second half 19th century
     6. John Frederick Peto, 1854-1907
     7. Joseph Cornell, 1903-1972   
     8. Willem de Kooning, 1904-1997
     9. Gordon Cook, 1927-1985
     10. Gregory Gillespie, 1936-2000
     11. Jimi Hendrix, 1942-1970
     12. Ramones- Joey, 1951-2001 Dee Dee, 1951-2002 Johnny, 1951-20

Glen Holland 2008