As I walked into the art museum from the cool September day, I felt a rush of warm air. Walking through the museum, these paintings brought me a feeling of happiness. As I looked at the painting I wrote about, it made me smile. The bright orange background seemed to scream out to me, it drew me in. Staring at the painting by Nate Luetgers, of Corey Medina solo performing on a stage, made me think of the way I see the world. The cold wood floor and the sound of crisp air whispering through the open window, made the environment a clear place to focus on the painting.

When I looked at the painting the background of the stage jumped out to me. The background was like fire lighting up the stage. The accents of yellow brings this painting joy and happiness, while the dark curtains represent the sorrow and loneliness. The painting is filled with bright bold colors, then the time the artist left some of the canvas white. The white contrasts are used to brighten the colors and leaves the viewers with a space to fill in our mind.

I continue looking at this painting while my eyes shift to the man holding his guitar. He seemed proud to be on stage alone sharing his way of art. The man’s face is masked with mysterious swirls yellow and black. I believe the swirls of the two colors portrays the man to be filled with bliss yet misery. These complex details give me things to think about.

As I look at this painting I imagine myself in it. I feel overjoyed. It is almost as if I can hear the man slamming on his guitar playing music. I imagine a small town of people standing around the stage listening to the solo artist. The performer is playing covers from the 80’s. The young children dancing and giggling in the front of the stage. A group of teenager are acting as if they are too cool to be there but secretly enjoy it. The group of adults enjoying the music reminding them of their childhood. I am reminded of a Thursday night downtown Park Rapids. I work at a restaurant downtown, the tourist are always happy on Thursdays. The environment is always joyful. I dream of being in the painting myself.

While looking at this painting I get a feeling of pride. There is much more than the painting of the man. I see what the performer sees, the environment. The mood contains a lively performer on stage singing about what he is passionate about The dark resembles a gloomy side everyone has in their life. It is almost if you can relate to this painting which ever mood you are in. You can look past the darkness and see joy, or you can focus on a dark gloomy feeling. I feel happiness as I am sitting around the fire on a warm summer night. While a gloomy feeling is like a cold winter morning driving to school. I try and focus on the joy of life, but sometimes the dark takes over.

One of my favorite parts of this painting is the unevenness of the paint. In some areas the paint perfectly coats the canvas but in others, there is too much, or too little. The perfection is in the imperfection. People are perfect in their own way. This painting is inspiring me to find the perfection in every person. As I pondered this painting, I think of my own life. Sometimes I feel imperfect. As life brings me down I struggle finding perfection in myself.

The man's face in the picture allows for personal interpretation. The face is masked. When people go through hard times in their lives or even just everyday, they put on masks. We cover our flaws with something unflawed. We all put our masks on in our lives. A mask can vary from a simple smile while having a bad day or acting tough at your weakest points in life. I think everyone has used a mask. People can hide behind a mask of fear and unknownness. When I am having a bad day or I am sad, I try not to show it, I mask my face with a simple smile. This piece is inspiring us to look past the mask of a person's face and see what each person has to offer.

The background of the picture has many different emotions. The artist must have been feeling energetic to paint this background. It reminds me that everyone's soul is different. Some days people feel fired up with orange and yellow, while other days they want simple blues and purples. The waves of the brush stokes remind me of the way our minds think. We can think many thoughts at many different times and can all lead to be one big beautiful mess. To me, this painting is much more than a singer performing on a stage. It represents music and art for all people. The way the strokes mesh together to create something beautiful is truly magical.