Gone Without a Whisper

"Gone Without a Whisper"

7 x 5 oil on panel

SOLD

   I often get asked what my titles mean.  Most of the time they originate with stories that I make up involving something going on in the painting, or a story that I see coming out of the painting, akin to seeing shapes in the clouds.  With this piece, I imagined a man, standing in the park, watching his fiance walking away far down the path (if you click on the image above you can see a larger version where the figures are more visible.)  His fiance has just suddenly broken off the engagement, leaving him stunned in this beautiful place.  He watches her walking away, waiting for her to turn around, run back, and tell him that it was all just a joke.  She doesn't, and he watches until he can't see her any longer.  She just left him, without any warning, and was Gone Without a Whisper.

   Melodramatic? Definitely. A sad story coupled with a beautiful scene? Indeed.  But this is what came into my head when looking at the painting, and so it stuck.

08/21/10 Update: I've replaced the image above with a higher-quality scan.