Blue Moon of Kentucky

I attended a festival in norther KY where I took many photographs of people in the crowd. One photo that I found most interesting was that of a man playing fiddle and singing. He seemed an odd combination of Santa Clause, my late grandfather and Colonel Sanders. I started painting the gentleman and was pulled away from the painting due to a commission of some sort. When I returned I’d lost interest in the fiddler. It went into the closet. About eight years later I was moving my studio and ran across the previously undercoated painting. I was between paintings and decided to have another go at it.
The background was from a photo I took of a hillside in KY in spring when the snow was melting. The weight of the snow had been pushing down on the dormant grass all winter. When the snow began to melt away the grass had what looked like a persons hair first thing in the morning, or bed-head.
Before revisiting the painting I’d just been looking at some Norman Rockwell Santas and decided that my fiddler would wear Santa red.
The moon was used as a balancing element and I’ve always been a fan of Elvis’ version of Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky”. It is also the official Bluegrass song of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.