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wood prints surrealism zebra yellow room window figure rocking horse dreams surreal

paintings surrealism zebra yellow room window figure rocking horse dreams surreal

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I created this image during my senior year in college. It was a massive 4 foot by 8 foot painting on wood. It did not survive the trip out to California so many years later I recreated it on a smaller 10" x 20" canvas. The painting depicts the progression of the death of the childhood innocence we have in the beginning that slowly goes away as we grow up. The windows portray the idea that as we learn more our view of life becomes clearer but with that clarity things might loose some of their beauty like the tree loosing its leaves as the curtain slowly reveals more of the view. The figures portray the loss of this innocence with a zebra rocking horse slowly turning into a generic faceless stick figure as the its stripes become different sized symbolizing a child being taught right from wrong.

Paxton was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1970. At the age of 4 his parents moved back to their hometown of Athens, Alabama where they built a house on Elk River outside of town. Paxton spent most of his childhood there roaming freely in the surrounding woods. From a very young age Paxton showed signs of an active imagination and a growing creative ability. This was seen in his regular acts of sculpting his food into art forms at the dinner table and his miniature creations of boats and cities down to the last detail, ready for their small inhabitants. With his love for animals and nature, Paxton's first thoughts were of becoming a wildlife artist, but there was also his overflowing imagination and vivid dreams that seemed to put a...