Elliott the Reindeer - Art without Words or Titles or Labels

After being pressured on a long drive home from Toronto, Eric finally gave in and agreed with me to name one of his paintings. With this deal, we would tell the people organizing his Art exhibition that the rest of his painting would remain untitled.

This started because he was going to enter some Art in an Art exhibit for the first time. There were some requirements and one of them being titles for each piece he submitted. I got nervous and told the coordinator that was something Eric has never done, and when asked he would just say nothing. I was than asked to help him name his pieces. I replied that I did not feel comfortable with that request because Eric will agree with anything I say and that I was not the best person for the job. In fact the only person best suited for the job was the Artist himself.

New to the world of Art and Artists I thought there were rules. I didn't like this as Art is subject to how the Artist paints. Eric is a prolific artist and he enjoys putting paint to canvas or paper but don't ask him anything about what he has painted because he doesn't want to explain. Explaining, putting words to his Art is limiting. He enjoys hearing what everyone has to say and that is where the beauty of his work shines.

He is able to paint so that others see what they are meant to see. He has many paintings that although most see one thing others are lead down a different path and see something completely different. I do my best to document what messages I get from the journey of watching him paint a certain picture.

OK back to this painting...

I was unsure how to proceed.

The name he gave this painting was "Elliott the Reindeer".

Curiosity got the better of me and of course I had to ask him where that name came from.

So the integration began, LOL. After days of nagging he finally told me it was from the movie "Open Season".

I ask, why "Elliott the Reindeer", I don't see a reindeer in your painting? He shows me were on the canvas Elliott was? He points... My response was "but the reindeer only has one antler?" Magoo offers no explanation. So I began my research.

As I watch all the Open Season movies, it is true Elliott does only have one antler. I don't really know why he had chosen to paint Elliott from Open Season or the true meaning of this picture but i will revisit this post if I ever find out more about this painting.

For now I will leave you with this ...

If we back up to when he first finished his painting I said, "This painting will never be for sale. To me this painting looks a whole bunch of people (representing our universal world) and look (I point) there's your mother, with the loud mouth" (always fighting/advocating for something feels like my a description of my life raising him). This whole process to me also felt like a lot of Eric's life where people and professionals always trying to put him into boxes to understand him. Always wanting to judge him, label him, because that's what we do when someone beats to a different drum. Let's just meet them where they are and they will begin to show you the magic they hold within.

Elliott the Reindeer

"Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love." Claude Monet