Goin' to California with an Aching in my Heart Painting

This piece is part of my older collection of works called Little Robots where the process, as always, is an organic one--meaning it starts with line discovery and then one stroke leads to another, opening the door for what turned out to be, in my opinion, visions of little robots on the canvas. If these little creatures are in fact robots, and maybe they're not, but if they are, I love the dichotomy between something machine- like, not capable of love and a real human leaving for California with an aching heart. Perhaps they have a gender? Can we see their internal organs? Of course each viewer might see something completely different than the next, thank goodness. As always, the names of my pieces pay homage to the classic rock music I grew up on (either a song title or a specific lyric). While its difficult to narrow it down, some of my favorite bands include The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Lynyrd Skynyrd, CCR, Joan Jett and the Black Hearts, Prince, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Eagles, Aerosmith, Bob Dylan, The Cure, Heart, and Willie Nelson. When I paint, I listen to all my favorite songs and think about life and perhaps the song's meaning, so I feel it would be disingenuous for me to NOT include their lyrics in my titles since these bands have been and will always be such a great influence. Going to California with an Aching in my Heart, obviously, comes from the Led Zeppelin lyric. There's just something about this figure in the painting that said to me, "he's leaving a selfish lover to find something and he must go to California to find it..." "Spent my days with a woman unkind Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine. Made up my mind to make a new start Going To California with an aching in my heart. Someone told me there's a girl out there With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair. Took my chances on a big jet plane Never let them tell you that they're all the same. The sea was red and the sky was grey Wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today. The mountains and the canyons started to tremble and shake As the children of the sun began to awake. Seems that the wrath of the Gods Got a punch on the nose and it started to flow; I think I might be sinking. Throw me a line if I reach it in time I'll meet you up there where the path Runs straight and high. To find a queen without a king; They say she plays guitar and cries and sings. La la la la Side a white mare in the footsteps of dawn Tryin' to find a woman who's never, never, never been born. Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams, Telling myself it's not as hard, hard, hard as it seems" ~~ Led Zeppelin