acrylics on canvas

4'X2'

For my Best Friend since the fifth grade, Cortney.

photograph courtesy of Steve Butman

Not for Sale

Overall, two points are being made in this painting. The first being Women give sex to get love, while men give love to get sex. and the second being Men lure women with their words, while women lure men with their bodies.
Symbols
Violin: Shapely as a woman, the violin symbolizes Woman’s sense of
commitment in a relationship. Consider the idiom no strings attached and the irony is clear. Woman is very much tied to Man in Her love for Him.
Noose: In loving, Woman often goes to the extreme. In the end, She may be found
hanging her head in shame for giving too much for so little.
Ladybug: There are many old superstitions dealing with these beetles. In the direction the
ladybug flew, women would expect to find their future husbands or lovers.
Female Torso and Fishing Lure: Women use their bodies to attract men. The lure is an
Arbogast Tin Liz Sunfish. I chose the sunfish because the first and only fish I ever caught was a sunfish.
Male Bust with Fishing Lure, Poison Dart Frog, and Blindfold: Men attract women with
their words. The Chinese translation for pornography in pinyin is huangse. This word also means yellow. Because of this, the color yellow symbolizes pornography or sex in China. I have revised the saying Love is blind. to Love is blinded by lust. Often, Man is too distracted with his sexual aspirations to successfully seek true love. The frog represents the few men able to transcend this baseness and build relationships built on love. These men can be seen as frog princes.
Mask and Female Nude, Hands Bound by Computer Mouse Cord: Women are often
bound to their addictions to websites such as match.com, seeking companionship. Men are oftener bound to their addiction to sexual gratification obtained through watching pornography. I have used the computer mouse because match.com and pornography are internet related. The mask symbolizes the false face one wears in seeking the love of a lover, hiding all imperfections. It also symbolizes the fact that to the pornography fan, the women there-in are the faceless entities of their fantasies.
Spanish Fly: The Spanish fly is a reputed aphrodisiac.
Books: These books are, in my opinion, a collection of tragic loves, with the exception of
the works of the Brothers Grimm. My purpose in including their fairytales can be explained in light of the phrase Love is a fairytale. I believe Othello exposes another side of man’s high placement of sex. His act of murdering his wife while under the impression that she had been unfaithful to him proves that the sexual relationship a man has with his wife is, to the husband, of no trivial consequence.
Female Sculpture with Pear and Butterfly: Women give sex for love. Think of the phrase
pear shaped woman, and you will see this is the woman giving the man her body. As the butterfly often symbolizes a person’s soul, this also depicts the woman giving body and soul to the man.
Male Sculpture with Welsh Love Spoon: In ancient and not so ancient times, Englishmen
have a custom of carving elaborate wooden spoons while away from their lovers as gift to be given upon their reunion. The Welsh Love Spoon is a clichéd token. It is entirely unoriginal. Rarely is any attempt to express love to another person ever anything but unoriginal. This symbolizes a man giving the impression of love for the briefest moment of sexual gratification.
Swan: Swans are symbols of love and fidelity.
Rabbit: Rabbits are symbols of lechery.
Piano Keys: The number of keys here is the same as can be found on a toy piano. This
imagery can be summed up by the saying toying with one’s feelings.
Orange Rose: The term under the rose infers a secret. As the scene with the sculptures
is found under the rose, it is my way of facetiously inferring that it is some secret the way men and women operate in love. It is in fact no secret. Also, in being orange, the rose stands for lust and passion, according the Victorian Language of Flowers.
Poppies: With these poppies, I am saying that love is the opium of the masses. Love and
Lust are both quite addictive.
Blue Parrot with Koi Fish: With it’s yellow eyes, this parrot is a spin-off of my man in
the yellow blindfold. This parrot symbolizes a lecher, toying with love. Koi are symbolic of love in Japan because the Japanese word for love is said the same. Hanging from a line on a golden hook, this carp is a lovely toy for the lecherous parrot.
Fish: Collectively, the fish are intended to represent lovers and potential lovers. Consider
the saying There are plenty of fish in the sea. Each of these fish has their own purpose. The sunfish is a spin-off of the Arbogast Tin Liz Fishing Lure on the Woman’s breast. The Blue Parrot fish is a spin-off of the blue parrot. The Yellow tang is a spin-off of the man with the yellow blindfold, in that Tang is a Chinese Dynasty and the use of yellow to symbolize lust is Chinese.