Red, the Colour of Incentive

This painting is a symbol for a group I started on Facebook called "The Incentive Program"

Let’s say you’re the type of person that talks about starting that big project but never gets around to it. Whether it be that you were lazy, procrastinating perhaps or just had the creative equivalent of writers block. Well low and behold the Incentive Program was here to help. We would draw up a contract with you to help give you the incentive to complete your project. How might you ask did we accomplish this? Very simple, we held something tangible, you hold close to your heart, hostage. If the contract was up and you hadn't completed your project, your dearest possession would meet its untimely end in a rather inventive manner. If however you completed your project, your possession would be returned to you.  Oddly enough you appreciated it even more so then before.

The first person who signed up for the incentive program was my best friend Paul O’Regan. His project was simple enough – recess his new flat screen TV flush into the wall, including the installation of a cable tube to hide the wires below and a vent system to channel excess heat build up top. His pride and joy that he handed over was the worlds first “hand/finger drill” finished in Canadian Tire style. This was one of his University school projects for industrial art and design. Paul had a thing for Canadian Tire and many of his projects were focused as such. This thing looked like it was off a showroom floor. The hand/finger drill was a battery operated drill body that with straps rode on the top center of your forearm. In the drills chuck was a flex shaft that fit on the end of your pointing finger. This literally made your finger into a power drill. Control of the unit ingeniously supplied via a feather touch switch on the side the flex shaft controlled by the index finger. He even added some carefully milled slots along the top of the drill that acted as a drill index.

While Paul was busy installing his flat screen, I was busy doing this painting to show Paul midway through the contract what was going to happen to his pride and joy if he failed his side of the bargain. My daughter Zoe posed for a couple pictures to help me get a feel for how the painting would turn out. I wish I had taken photos back then of the hand/finger drill, oh well. The background needed to be menacing though, a sense of urgency was required. RED was the logical choice, it evokes a sense of speed, danger & urgency – just what is need to get that project done on time. A little pressure, a little incentive…

One last thing, so far we haven't had one bad ending yet, one was close but she wiggled out of her contract.  You know who you are - tisk tisk tisk :)