Subject: Large painting. Title: "Saint Oprah"

Oprah (or in this case whoever screens her mail),

My name is Bruce Cegur and I have resided in Hammond, Indiana, for the past 10 years after spending 15 years living on the North Side of Chicago. I am a 43 year old artist who has begun a large work titled "Saint Oprah." I have included a front and side view of the preliminary drawing as an attachment to this e-mail.

ABOUT THE ATTACHMENT:

The file is a bmp. file that has been reduced to a manageable size for sending, viewing and printing. It should print on an 11" X 14" piece of paper. The size of the file - 100 dpi - is the smallest that I dare send without losing too much of the detail. I refer to the image included in this file as a preliminary drawing, though in fact, it can be considered a completed work of computer generated art. It is a preliminary drawing in that a large oil will be created from it as well. The front view image has been pieced together from 3 larger files, each of which will be painted on a separate canvas and placed together as seen in the side view.

WHY AM I BRINGING THIS ENDEAVOR TO YOUR ATTENTION?

I usually paint during the evening and late into the night with the television on as background noise. The late night running of the Oprah show has become a mainstay of my viewing for the last year or two. I have enjoyed watching her personal transformation on a daily basis. I respect Oprah for her bringing her own struggle through Spiritual growth to the forefront as well as getting the world community to look inward and then pour outward toward each other. Also, I have never been able to comprehend how so many individuals with great wealth seem to do so little for the world around them. Oprah seems to not only give of her financial wealth but also of herself. It is because of this respect that I have decided to bring this project to your attention. I welcome any response or comment that you may have.

I am also adding another page called "Diary of a Painting" to my Online virtual art gallery. The new page will be updated weekly with photos of my progress, explanations of my technique, and the thoughts and feelings that I experience during the process of painting Saint Oprah. By creating this page, I am forcing myself to examine and record my creative process from start to finish - something that I have always wanted to do but, never have. This sort of brings us to me, the artist.

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

You can find out just about as much about me as you might wish to know at my web site gallery. It will take up much less space in this e-mail if I send you the most pertinent links. As you are on aol, this should work out fine.

Now that you have some background about me, we can move on to the painting.

ABOUT THE PAINTING, "SAINT OPRAH"

Media: Oil
Size: Approximately 40"W X 74"L. The work is made up of 3 separate scenes, each on it's own canvas connected to the whole: The Crucifixion - 36" X 48"; The Last Supper - 40" X 30", inspired by Oprah's bookclub; and The Cocktail Table - 20" X 13", inspried by the Angel Network.

I have noticed throughout the years, that the art works that I produce tend to initiate very different responses from the different people who view it. Some responses can be so far removed from anything that ever entered my mind that I am amazed. From the few comments that I have received thus far from fellow artists and friends, I would say that this painting is no exception. The reactions have been strong, positive and fearful. The work can be viewed and taken in two obvious ways with a kaleidoscope of gray areas in between. The work is at the same time both serious and tongue in cheek, both reverent and irreverent, and both hopeful and frightening. Much of the symbolism used has a double edge, just as everything does in life.

The most obvious example of the double-edged symbolism can be found in the Mammy / Aunt Jemima glowing form around the crucified Oprah and the red bandanna on Oprah's head. On one side, not digging too deeply, this symbol can obviously be taken negatively but, from another viewpoint, the Mammy / Aunt Jemima is thought to represent a macumbo priestess, a symbol of spiritual presence. This idea is explained in more depth on a web site that I ran across while doing research for the work which can be found at: http://www.artresources.com/features/articles/to.9.html-ssi

From a tongue in cheek point of view the glowing form can also stand for Oprah's struggle with her own weight. Superimposed over a famous black figure such as Oprah, it can also show the long struggle faced by black women in our society for respect and recognition. I could go on, but time and letter length restrain me.

I felt compelled to create this work and all the pieces have fallen into place somewhat naturally from the moment of it's conception. My intention was to create an inspired, exciting, positive and powerful art statement. I feel that this is what I am attaining. I don't usually like to over-explain one of my art works, as it tends to cause the viewer's own imagination/thought process to just shut down and listen, but, in this case, I would be happy to address any questions that you may have concerning the content of the work.

Thank you for your time. You can contact me via e-mail.

Sincerely,

Bruce Cegur