Last night, I was unable to sleep, and had the inspiration to paint this painting. Usually, I post ‘In Progress’ shots of my work, but this is not one of those times. The background in this painting, while it looks simple, took a considerable amount of time to construct and get right. What looks like simple brush strokes, really took a lot of time to blend. As someone who was raised in a cult, I didn’t leave it until I was in my early 30s. I left it when I was a teen, but came back to it in my early 20s. The dark effects of it still overwhelm me emotionally, and there are mental things that I just can’t shake sometimes. Imagine a guy lost in the woods, and there’s no escape from it. These woods are all he knows, and just as he escapes, a massive animal - a bear, or wolf - prevent him from leaving. If you’ll notice, the man in the painting has no feet ... they’re almost rooted in the ground. The bear corners him ... there’s nowhere for him to go. For me it was rough, but understand, it was far more terrible for women.