Bathwater

TEMPERA ON CANVAS 100 x 120 cm.

THIRD WORK - 19/06/2011

Mele wanted a "big, big canvas". How could he paint it?

He chose the colours (a horrible pea-green, too...I tried to persuade him not to use it, but I couldn't) and he wanted me to dilute them with water. He told me to stop when they reached the right consistency for him. He chose the brush: medium size, not a gigantic one...

Then? 

I put the canvas on the floor in the garden and Emanuele on the canvas. I gave him the brush, but he could only hold it for a few instants. He worked with it a little, but he wasn't happy with it so he proceeded with his hands. I had to turn him and relocate him on the canvas because he can not move his body one centimeter by himself. He started getting up set and then he really got angry...till I understood that he wanted to be lifted from the canvas and held, dangling, over it so that he could move his arms from above.

I poured all the colours onto the places on the canvas that he showed me, then I did as he wanted...

Oh my God! I got an excruciating backache, because the kid weighs 16 kilos!He even slipped and I dropped him on top of the canvas . At a certain point, paint was dribbling from his hair down his forehead and basically he was painting with his nose. A child-brush! I was by then so physically destroyed and angry that I started telling him that " the masterpiece was ready" and it was fine the way it was, and we would never paint a big big canvas again. 

I felt a bit guilty, but the truth was I could not hold him anymore. I gave him a shower because he was so unspeakably dirty! Then he fell asleep exhausted. It was certainly tiring for me, but for him it must have been like climbing Mt.Everest! After a painkiller I took another look at the painting and realized it was really beautiful! Perhaps better than all the others! I took many pictures of it. 

Today Emanuele told me and his nurse what he painted: it's the bathtub. He said he painted the bathwater. Now you might object that "water is not coloured". WRONG. In fact, for more than a year, considering that Emanuele, because of his severe impairment, would need extra stimuli, I have been using Lush balls (homemade soap balls) that dye the water with intense colours. They are also very scented, they sizzle, leave sparkles, small hearts, confetti and so on. Actually, when I bathe him rather than shower him, I ALWAYS use a colouring ball! Bath is  playtime and pleasure time, for us, it's not just for washing up. It must really be true that no good action gets wasted! You do the same thing for ages without seeing any results, then suddenly...

The painting is full of fascinating details. Click on the image to enlarge it and watch them!

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