One of my favorite pastimes is to pick a random person, someone unknown to me, and to think to myself, “what’s their story?” It gives me an opportunity, albeit completely in my mind, to try and put myself into someone else’s shoes, and imagine their story. I might see a couple sitting on a park bench and think to myself, “he has the ring in his pocket. He’s known she was the one since the first date, and he’s finally ready to pop the question”. Or, I may see a young boy using a small stick as a laser blaster or sword, “he’s blasting storm troopers, or slaying members of the foot clan!”

I feel that, so often, the story behind a piece of art enlightens us to so much more about both the artist and the subject. In writing these blog posts for Chris, I have been able to get a lot of the “why behind the what” for many of the paintings that I’ve written about. How great would it be if we were about to know the truth behind the half smile of The Mona Lisa, or what The Thinker was actually thinking about?

I want to leave you with a question about the man pictured in the painting above. What is his story? Why might Chris have painted him sitting at the bus stop, with a sign for the drivers license station being in close proximity? How old is he? Why isn’t he driving? Comment below, and let us know what you think!

Chris Cook is a premier southern artist and owner of Madison Studios, a web design, maintenance, and e-commerce and marketing company. For his artist biography, contact information, or to view more of his work, click HERE.