How Long Have I Been Sleeping?

These images are details of a larger composition, entitled, How Long Have I Been Sleeping?
It is another work "in process" and a significant transitional piece for me. It reveals a marriage of everything that I love about art and painting in particular: color, the human portrait
as subject matter, texture, pattern and symbolism. My daughter, Christina and Lillianna, the beautiful daughter of painter, Joseph Breza and his wife Emily, from Santa Fe, New Mexico,
served as models for this piece.

The title makes reference to the fact that I abandoned my painting for nearly 20 years. My "awakening" has made me more passionate and aware of the beauty that surrounds me, that is within me, that inspires me to want to paint every possible moment. Someone once
told me that even when I am not physically painting, I am still creating with my eyes and in my mind. At nearly 45, I have truly "awakened".
Only those who have awakened know that they were sleeping. -Jim Paredes