​Life Lost and Dreams Forgotten - 30 x 24 oil on canvas
Philosophical musing: Metaphor-rich presentation of a man in his sixties as he reviews his life, assessing his accomplishments, failures, and ethical performance.   Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

Life Lost and Dreams Forgotten 
 
Sexagenarian Man sits without artifice to judge the essence of his past life in a series of visual metaphors. The foundation of his musings is a beautiful park of trees and water accompanied by an eroded desert landscape.
Forget-me-not flowers grow nearby expressing his hope that his legacy will survive.  Bees suggest that some events remembered might have a sting.
He is reminded of his intellectual achievements by The Tree of Knowledge growing in the park, and by how much he has forgotten. The Magnifying Glass of Curiosity is at the heart of the tree. The lens is fractured, signifying its diminishing function as Sexagenarian Man ages. He still longs to understand The Universe, but receiving answers to his questions no longer seems critical. 
Two fighting stallions in the park represent his youthful competitive sparing with his peers, and the possible harm that might have come from it.
A bull charging a startled Grim Reaper is reminiscent of Sexagenarian Man’s defiance of death through careless activities of youthful bravado. In addition, a man sportingly surfs down a lava flow. He remembers peers who lost their battle with death and consequently lost the greater part of their lives.
A volcano portrays his past fiery ambition and creative drive. It generates new worlds that precariously float towards a threatening thunderhead coming from behind the desert hills. The storm represents social obstacles that hindered his welfare and success such as prejudice, defamation, deceit, and perverse changes in the mores of society. Waiting to strike, The Snake of Evil depicts sociopolitical discord and violence.
A rock climber scaling the thorn bush-covered hills represents personal traits that occasionally hampered his progress, such as illness, defeatism, regret, and apathy. He overcame these weaknesses, but fears they might resurface with time.
A stream flows from a cave at the base of the desert hills to nourish a rebirth of the park. In the stream stands a quiescent pregnant woman who represents Sexagenarian Man’s paternal procreative yearnings. Has his instinctive drive been fulfilled?
Farther downstream a nude woman poses seductively while she gives a challenging stare. She represents his mating endeavors. Thistles that bloom at her feet signify the difficulties that romantic relationships create.
Beside a small waterfall, The Sands of Time fall in an hourglass pattern. The resultant mound of expired time pushes aside The Egg of New Beginnings. Perched on a stem of foxglove in the foreground, a frantic raven caws a warning.
The stone outcropping over which the park water flows has a face and hand pointing scrutinizingly at Sexagenarian Man. He is fully responsible for much of what he sees. Do his memories reflect a life fulfilled – one where he enjoyed all that was achievable?
Excalibur, King Arthur’s sword of valor, hovers over a spherical stone from which the sword was drawn. For him, the sword represents ethical fervor and idealism. The stone represents honesty and justice. Were these personal principles realized?
Sexagenarian Man’s life has changed over time and the activities and dreams of his youth have been lost or forgotten. He realizes he is a different man and must accept a past of accomplishment and mishap as it unfolded. For him to return for continuation or reparation is not possible. Do his memories leave him with an overall feeling of peaceful satisfaction?  What more might he do in the future?  How will he be remembered?

​Melting Man -   24 x 48  oil on canvas
 Philosophical musing: How critical activism against others is often conducted through assumption, ignorance, and bias.    Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

​Celebration – 48 x 60 oil on canvas
Philosophical musing: The celebration of life, procreation, and the intimate connection of all forms of life through their common origin.  Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

Celebration 
We celebrate the life of Earth, our lives, and new life to be.
We celebrate the spirit of dreams and those dreams that create the future. 
We soar through the air, through the clouds, through the cosmos.
We love beyond our understanding and ability to express.
One vital spark initiated all life. 
One thread of life embellished the Earth.
One mind of power uncloaks The Universe. 
We will reach and discover more. 
We will fly to the end.
 
 
Apollo, god of love and music, soars over the eternity beam in celebration of life and love.  He figuratively holds an ovary of Aphrodite, identified by a rose, as a show of their union and bond of love.  A white cloth, signifying Apollo’s noble character, floats through the air and burns with his passion. 
 
Aphrodite, goddess of love, beauty, and procreation, glides over a dark sea as she focuses her attention on an egg representing new life.  Blood droplets tell of the pain and effort required for procreation.   A moth representing Psyche, goddess of the soul, spreads her wings over the egg in silent vigil.  The tau symbol, which represents resurrection and life, inscribes the rock. 
 
An orange and orange blossoms representing purity and passion float above a red placenta-like cloth that represents motherhood and birth. 
 
A parchment contains a pledge written in blood and entitled perpetuity in Greek.  It is securely held in place with a brick upon which a sacred quill rests. 
 
On the end of the eternity beam are symbols that say there exists for all, infinity (or eternity), proclaiming life and love will last forever.
 
A dark rocky outcrop reluctantly allows the moon of romance to peek past, suggesting adversity always lurks in the background to challenge life and love, but fails in the end.
 

River of Time, Rock of Regret - 30 x 40 oil on canvas
Philosophical musing: Introspective plea to oneself to efficiently embrace time and the many difficulties experienced throughout life, and to effectively manage defeatist thoughts of regret.    Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

Storm of Creation and Humanity's Precarious Destiny - 30 x 40 oil on canvas
Philosophical musing: The great variety of people making up humanity assures disunity.  Even a system of majority rules leaves several discontented people.  Even a popular leader who inspires adulation eventually foments rebellion. ​

Storm of Creation and Humanity’s Precarious Destiny –
The egg of futures has erupted from the fertile earth in the land of Disarray, causing people of varied natures to live and contemplate life at its base. 
            The egg had sat in silence for innumerable days until a mighty hand broke through the churning clouds and struck it with a lightning bold, cracking the egg and endowing it with brilliance.
            The destinies of humanity now shine forth and bathe the people.  Some people are running in fear, unsure of their legitimacy.  Others naively lay in peace, trusting they are more righteous than those beside them.  And still others deliver hyperbole-ladened postulates about the essence of life, hoping to derive a sense of security from their own deliberations.
                        Newly forming crevasses threaten the people with the abysses they create, while the eye of wisdom ponders the scene and awaits the outcome of humanity’s hubris.
            Haunting susurrations emanate from a tree as a thin wind brushes its leafless branches. The tree stands as a staff for a vigilant spider ready to jump upon anyone dreamily straying its way.
            As a distant city burns while being engulfed by the ocean, a three-mast ship of old coasts slowly towards the disaster as if to rescue any survivors.

Dessert - 24 x 36 oil on canvas
​“My Dear Mr. Wolf, this has been such a delightful dinner date, I am so glad that you have joined me. Would you like a little dessert?”
“You, -- Ahh, it would be delicious, Madam Seductress.  Yes, I am afraid that I am still a bit ravenous. If you only knew how the thought of dessert entices me, and well, let’s just say that considering how beautifully dressed you are, I am glad that I came with my coat and tie.”
“And such a beautiful coat it is.  Feel free to loosen your tie.  The breeze is turning warmer with the passing hours.  There is no need to be so formal.”
“I will do just that, My Dear.”
Philosophical musing: This painting illustrates the true passionate thoughts and intentions behind a seemingly formal dinner date. 
 

​Stallion Galleon and the Sea Mistress Mystery   – 30 x 40 oil on canvas
 Philosophical musing: Metaphor-rich commentary on various tumultuous life experiences, and how to avoid or manage them with well thought-out and practiced ethical philosophies.    Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

​Voyage the Desperate Mind 24 x 36
Philosophical musing: Addresses a man’s anxiety-filled mind and the turmoil his thoughts create throughout his everyday experiences. ​ Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

​Egg won best of show for paintings in a large Des Moines Metro wide art show.  Many of Dennis's other paintings won awards at similar shows.
Egg – 30 x 20 acrylic on board
Philosophical musing: The value of freedom and an exploration of the world with ardor.   Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

Egg 
 Nestled in an egg, she slept,
as the walls around her crumbled.
Whales sang their songs and wept
and planets once secure, tumbled.
 
Eternal stars burned in the sky
and geese flew into outer space.
The woman slept within her egg
and dreamt of times she once embraced.
 
Wake into a world of hope
and view the mysteries of time.
Touch the wonders you discover,
and forget the shell you leave behind.
You’re sure to love what new you find.

​Madonnova Spring – 20 x 30 acrylic on board
 Philosophical musing: Ponders the wonder of motherhood and how mothers are valued by humanity.    Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

Madonnova Spring – 
Motherhood is divine to know
and she is peaceful in his hand.
She rests with beauty and the calm
of swans that smoothly fly dreamland.
 
It’s springtime and the moon is high
The cool breeze whispers in the night.
A child stirs within her womb
so she pats herself that ‘all is right’.
 
He speaks to her.
He cares for her.
He loves her gentleness.
She smiles at him.
She kisses him.
She coos with his caress.

A Woman's Journey won honorable mention in the international Tera Varna 2023 Figurative art contest.  
A Woman's Journey - 48 x 36 - on mahogany board
Philosophical musing: A portrayal of the multifaceted journey through life a typical woman often takes.    Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

Morrowlith (Waiting for Tomorrow) - 24 x 48 oil on canvas
Philosophical musing: Comment on blissfully ignorant people who ignore various signs that portend a hazardous future.    Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

Alone and Enduring the Raven Sun           36 x 30 oil on canvas
Philosophical musing: The ethics of humanity controlling and destroying nature at the expense of all living things, including themselves.     Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

The Forgotten - 20 x 30 - oil on canvas
Philosophical musing: Addresses the many who have not adapted to social expectations and those who have fallen into misfortune, and mourns for their fate and their absence from the consciousness of people who are in the position to help.    Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

​The Nightmare – 24 x 48 oil on canvas
 Philosophical musing: An anxiety fraught plea for an end to the chaos and turmoil humanity and nature cause and experience.    Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

Fleas of Profundity – 30 x 40 oil on canvas
 Philosophical musing: The insignificance of humanity compared to the vast universe, yet the value of humanity within its own sphere of existence.    Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

Phantasmagoria – 16 x 20 oil on canvas
 Philosophical musing: Comprehensive essay of recommendations for living a full and ethical life.    Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

Storm of the Stallion Specter – 18 x 24 oil on canvas
 Philosophical musing: Depiction of a surrealistic populist despot who quickly betrays his creators and destroys their lives.  Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

​Men of Fire – 18 x 24 -oil on canvas
 Philosophical musing: An essay about young men who have difficulty adapting to society’s staid rules and the resultant criticism that plagues them and often ruins their lives.     Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

​Night Runner – 16 x 20 oil on canvas
 Philosophical musing: Confession of a man possessed with paranoia and the anxieties that result.    Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

​Desolation Road (White Crow) – 24 x 18 oil on canvas
 Philosophical musing: The abhorrence and avoidance of violence borne from evil intentions.    Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

​​​Stream of Consciousness – 16 x 12 acrylic on clayboard
 Philosophical musing: Addresses humanity’s search for meaning and basic answers to why anything exists at all, meaning or not.    Play the audio file for the accompanying literature. 

​The New Arrivals – 24 x 12 oil on canvas
 Philosophical musing: A depiction of a hopeless man and woman who are lost because of their bad life decisions, and their helpless watch of others enduring the same fate.

Swallowed by Time – 16 x 20 oil on canvas
 Philosophical musing: A man ponders the passage of time and its effects on his existence.    Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

Journey of Man
 Philosophical musing: The value of humanity to the entire universe, and the intimate relationship of our consciousness with our sensuality.   ​ Play the audio file for the accompanying literature.

​​Endless Day – 48 x 36 acrylic and oil on canvas
 Philosophical musing: The permanence of human aspirations and relative perception of time and place.

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