This is a metaphorical self portrait. It depicts the artist (thats me) who is nearing the end of a long and productive life, setting off on a journey of self discovery, traveling on foot in solitude on a long and winding road. As the road winds off into the distance it leads to a stormy sky and a tornado that is touching down at the end of this road. I leave it to the viewer to decide if the tornado is coming towards me or going away. After finishing this painting I decided to enter it in an art competition sponsored by the Village Fine Art Association in Milford, MI. called the PAN show. PAN is an acronymn for Poetry Art Night. The concept is that an artist can submit a painting to this show but the painting must be accompanied by a poem. The poem can be written by the artist, or the artist can seek the assistance of a poet to have them write the poem for them. I always write my own poems and while I do not write a lot of poetry from time to time something poetic pops into my brain, especially for this particular occasion and so I wrote the poem to accompany the painting. This is a juried show and it is juried by two seperate people, one is the art judge who selects the prize winners in the art category, and the other juror is a poet who juries the poems. They give out awards in both the art category and the poetry category, so it is possible to win two awards for one submission. There is an opening reception at the SHAC (Suzi Haskew Art Center) a gallery and meeting place in downtown Milford and the award winners are announced and presented their awards. The award winners in the poetry category are also given the opportunity to read their poems to those in attendance. This event is one of the highlights of the year for the VFAA and is always well attended and while I did not win an award for the painting I did win a peoples choice award for the poem. The title of the painting and the poem is "The Walking Man" See below for the award certificate and the poem.