The Artist's Shadow

Chapter 1

         "Often one finds himself at a two way street where he needs to choose between the path he has been going on and the path that had never been a consideration. They say never stray from your path. Well sometimes one needs to be led astray to find happiness."

There was a different word for every person interested in art,the one's that could afford to buy it where seen as the rich, the one's that talked about it for hours,analysing it were called pretentious. Never would they call these people passionate. It was passion that made people come to an art show and buy the painting that spoke to them,just as it was passion for art that made people talk about it not because it was a pretty picture but because it moved them.

Jaftha Acosta stared at the painting infront of him knowing which category he fell under,and it wasn't the former. No way was he rich enough to buy a painting that cost the price of three houses when he could replicate it in a heartbeat.

He turned away from the painting of a boat battling the rough waters and looked around him. The exhibition had been a big turn out and with obvious reasons, Mariah Galdero was a renounced name in the world of art, her passion for the ocean mixed with her passion for painting showed in her art. Jaftha knew that people were already standing in line to make bids for some of the paintings while others were walking around judging with their friends. He hated those types of people, who thought it was okay to judge someone when they themselves couldn't even draw a proper stickman.

"You like that one?" A voice asked from next to him and he turned to stare at them. It was a middle aged woman,dressed elegantly in a floor length red dress,open at the cleavage in a way that demanded attention. He turned back to look at the painting and shrugged.
"Not her best work but I like it,the meaning behind it,kind of makes the painting." He saw the woman give him a confused look and he gestured towards the painting.

"Everyone knows her painting has meaning behind them,she said so herself when she started,that the reason she paints is because she wants to gets messages across for generations to come." He says and the woman nods and asks.
"Well what message is she trying to get across?" She moves closer to the painting and he follows.
"Obviously I know this might not be it but it is just how I perceive it,okay..." the woman nods and turns to look at him and he realises just how beautiful she looks.
"Look at how she painted the ocean,with those tides higher than the others she is showing just how dangerous that water is and how dangerous it is still going to get with that black in the middle,if you look at the farback of the painting,it shows calm waters and you can see those fish in it. Than look at the boat,all the men are on their sitting down,while the captian is at the steering wheel while simultaneously holding the rope for whatever. For me when I see it and I look at it,I see a man going through a storm alone,meaning something in his life is going wrong, and that he needs to weather it alone because others always wants to see us fail and won't help you no matter what. And by doing something about the storm in his life,he will be rewarded at the end of the storm with calmness and a reward." He finishes off with a sheepish smile while biting his lip.

The woman nods when he finishes and continues staring at the painting for a while longer before turning towards him with a bright smile. Before she could even say anything, a man dressed in a black suit with glasses approaches her and says.
"Mariah,you have a guest that would like to talk to you. " he shoots Jaftha a look and drops his gaze down and when he looks back up his face is covered in a sneer. Jaftha looks down at himself and frowns, he knows he is not dressed for the nines like the rest of the people in his black jeans, oversized brown hoodie and black combat boots and his bucket hat but who did this guy think he was.

Jaftha freezes when he realises what this guy just said. He looks back up at her and sees the look she gives the guy who looks down and steps back. She turns towards him and says.
"When I decided to paint this,I thought about life and how the hurdles sometimes stops us from moving and that our supposed friends sometimes encourages us to stop instead of moving through it but I couldn't decide on the ending. So I went on a trip and watched the ocean and I saw the fish swimming and it hit me,you know. This was the reward for being on the ocean,seeing fish swim past you and being hit with that fresh air. Nothing was better. No one not even my curator could figure it out." She laughs when she sees his stunned look and gestures him to continue talking.
"I figured that's how I would do it if I had decided to paint a piece like this." He says and he hears the guy scoffs.