The Painting That Predicted the Future Artist John Padlo shares the story of “Bad Days” portrait that hangs on the fireplace of a the sanguine sky to match her lipstick and When oil painter, tinker, and retro toy church-turned-multimillion dollar home the tears simply because they fit the “mood”. enthusiast John Padlo was a student at the in Boise. It was only later that the painting took on Academy of Art in San Francisco, he took Padlo is best known for his nostalgic the eerie significance. a class from a famous Olympic fencpaintings of robots, vintage toys, candy, and “This painting that was painted with no er-turned-sculptor. Professor Peter Schifrin UFOs in bright pop-art colors, but “Bad plan, completely just intuitively in a way, didn’t play by the usual rulebook. On the Days” features a coiffed blonde woman set almost predicted the future. The next 10 day of the first critique of the semester, against a backdrop of blood-red clouds. years of my life,” Padlo says. Schifrin asked his students to Black, white, and Though Padlo was in a sunny frame bring cameras to class. scarlet tears drip of mind while painting “Bad Days” in “We didn’t really understand the early 2000s, things why he said to bring a camera,” quickly fell apart. A Padlo remembers, “but once the divorce, a protracted critique was done he said, ‘Okay, custody battle, and the go ahead and destroy [your financial collapse of the sculpture]. Great Recession sent You have him into a decade-long three depresminutes sion. He — or five began to minutes, see the or whattwo largever — to est tears photograph in “Bad your sculpture and then Days” as destroy it.” represen“My eyes opened up!” tative of the twin daughters Padlo says. He’d expected he was fighting for. to take his sculpture home Still, he didn’t hesitate and show it off, but now he to pass the painting on to ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOHN PADLO had less than five minutes to Cooper Kalisek, a famidemolish six weeks of hard ly friend and one of the work. When students prodevelopers behind the “THIS PAINTING THAT WAS PAINTED tested, Shifrin threatened to church-turned-house at WITH NO PLAN, COMPLETELY JUST give them failing grades if 1723 West Eastman Street. they didn’t follow his order. It hangs there along with INTUITIVELY IN A WAY, ALMOST “[Shifrin said,] ‘Here’s seven of Padlo’s other PREDICTED THE FUTURE.” the deal: If you’re going to paintings — including robe a successful artist you bots, toy cars, and a lipstick need to be willing to let go of everything from her eyes like webbed lightning. It’s an still life. More than the rest, “Bad Days” you create,’” Padlo recalls. “‘We’re not here ominous image made even more so by its rivets Kalisek whenever he walks by. to hoard paintings and save stuff. It’s not a origin story. “It was one of the first paintings I had resentimental situation. We’re here to create The woman was inspired by a life-sized ceived from [Padlo] … I kept sitting there stuff and sell art.’” mannequin that sits in Padlo’s creative and couldn’t stop staring at it,” Kalisek says. Padlo broke his sculpture apart. Years space alongside his vintage tractors, classic Distilled on canvas, 10 years of hardship later, he told the story of Shifrin’s lescars, metal fabrication equipment, and toy can have that effect. son to explain how he managed to give collection. He painted her on a whim as a To learn more about John Padlo and his up the painting “Bad Days”, a startling way to stretch his creative muscles, adding work, visit JohnPadloArt.com. BY LEX NELSON
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