DISCARDED STREET PALLET PORTRAIT

My seven year old son often sees me digging an old cinder block, or a piece of wood, out of a hillside and carrying it home on a walk. “For a sculpture,” I say, without much thought. My studio, easily a wonderland of imagination for him. Lately he is very interested in: “What do you do, Dad?”

“What I love” - I reply.

“You don’t always seem happy.” Him, like a whip. Quickly stopping me in my tracks, me with a proud smile, forcing a reconciliation and honesty. “No, I’m not, Not Always.”

“Well, Lookin-boy,” (a nickname), I shuffle to explain,
“Currency and Value. Sometimes and Always.
Sometimes what I do for is for ‘currency.’ The things I make have value to someone, sometimes. They give me currency in exchange. That process, that transaction, can be difficult, sometimes. Sometimes the things I make become currency. I can trade them for things I Value.
That can feel good...sometimes.
Sometimes things that seem to have no Value, to others, have a secret value inside them. For me. I try to carve them out and uncover them. It’s how I play. Have fun. I can even, sometimes, make them into currency. That is something I love, sometimes.
Sometimes, when I am lucky or I can pause long enough to see it, often before my feet touch the ground in the mornings, sometimes, I see what is valuable, for me. It is the doing and the passion and grace that I even get to do. Or that I ever tried. And, always, not sometimes, that is what makes ‘me’ valuable.” - Happy.

Painting for fun & 7-year-old boy conversions.

This pallet, thankfully, was left by a delivery company that refused to take it with them. It fast became a working surface for me, staining, painting, drying, cutting and drilling. As quickly, an emotional attachment developed. An image started to present itself. The more I touched and added the more I enjoyed its company.

Discarded Street Pallet Portrait. A Picasso Can-Can dancer.

Spilled oil and acrylics on wood.
By Jason Koharik, 2021.

-On currency and value.