Home Fires Burning

Anyone who rents their home knows these rented spaces do not belong to us.  Not really - not on paper or by law.  And yet they do, because we are the ones who exist within those rented walls every day, filling them with our tastes, our interests, our dreams and adventures.  Whether we live in a place for six months or sixty years, each home we inhabit leaves an indelible mark on our souls, and each day spent in that space marks us deeper until they do belong to us.
 
”Keep the Home Fires Burning” was a British patriotic song during World War 1, about maintaining daily life during wartime and holding out hope for a better tomorrow.  Each glowing window I see as I walk around my city at night reminds me of this old phrase.  Every apartment lit up at night with somebody’s wishes and wonderings is a little Home Fire; they won’t ever go out because they burn forever in our hearts, and the day-to-day struggle for monthly rent keeps us burning forever them.  
 
It doesn’t matter whose name is on the deed or how much power they have over our lives and leases; the house may belong to the landlord but the Homes will always, always belong to us.
 
This piece comes FRAMED.  Wired to hang.
 
56” x 41” x 2.5”.  (4.5 feet x 3.5 feet.)  Acrylic gouache on canvas-covered backboard; reclaimed wood frame.