"Claire's Painting", and a Presidential Portrait using PowerPoint: Article by James P. McCabe

President Carter Tribute. 2012. Created with PowerPoint. By James P. McCabe

Claire's Painting, 2000. 24"x30". Acrylic on canvas. By James P. McCabe.

This is an article I’ve been working on, and I thought now was a good time to publish it, here on our Members’ Blog. JPM. 2/21/23.

The idea of developing a visual tribute to President Jimmy Carter was originally planned as a painting when I had a studio to work in, which was from the mid-90’s to about 2005.

“Claire’s Painting’ (2000) is an example of the kind of style I was working on developing, done with acrylic using airbrush. I was aiming for a combination of color field theory and photorealistic imagery- both of which I enjoyed studying and working with- in a sequential format. “Claire’s Painting’ is about 24”x32”, a relatively small canvas- the largest work of this type I was able to do measured 48”x90”.

I was put onto this line of development, you might call it, by a suggestion from an instructor at Buffalo State College, who I was taking a painting course by contract from for one semester. I don’t think I came up with anything he found of interest, but after graduating I decided to trust the message and not the messenger, and continued working along the same line when I could.

I don’t recall anything specific that might have inspired such a tribute (to President Carter), although I had seen him once in person, when he passed by in a motorcade traveling through Manhattan. it’s possible that Mr. Carter being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 is what brought him to mind as a worthwhile subject.

Later, I included the ‘President Carter Tribute’ as part of the DEGREES OF DIFFICULTY list, and when I started using the titles on that list to experiment with Microsoft PowerPoint as a fine art medium, I decided to see if the program could be used to create an acceptable ‘portrait’.

What I like about the animated graphic version is the way it unfolds. It has kind of an educational aspect to it.

The media image that the ‘portrait’ is built around is that of President Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter choosing to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House after the Inaugural ceremony, on January 20,1977.

The oath of office was taken on the Bible used in the first inauguration by George Washington; it was administered by Chief Justice Warren Burger on the East Front of the Capitol. The new President and his family surprised the spectators by walking from the Capitol to the White House after the ceremony, and that was why I wanted to include it in the portrait. Photographs of the occasion were easy to find.

Mr. Carter’s 1976 campaign reference to the need for ‘sunshine laws’*, in the wake of the Watergate situation, was also something I was impressed by when I heard it.

The ‘amber waves of grain’ image that stretches across the length of the frame was meant to reference the ‘sunshine laws’ visually. It is also representing the entire time span of his term in office. That’s the first image to appear when the animation begins.

As it unfolds, the photo of the Inaugural Day walk enters with a vertical wipe, and the graphic depiction of the Carter Presidency has begun.

The lock, the '444 Days', and the key all refer to the hostage crisis that marked the end of Mr. Carter's term. It shows that he continued to participate in the negotiations until the situation was solved, which was beyond the limits of his term.

In my opinion, Mr. Carter is one of our very best Presidents. JPM. 3/18/15

A copy of DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY #172, “President Carter Tribute”, is in the collection of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, Georgia.

A copy of the PowerPoint file, DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY #172, "President Carter Tribute", is now posted on Page 2 of the jmcgrfx website. JPM. 2/22/23

* Sunshine laws require specific businesses and government agencies to maintain transparency and disclose their activities to the public. The primary objective of these laws is to prevent fraud, corruption, inequality, and to maintain high ethical standards within such businesses and agencies.

They're called “sunshine laws” because the bright light of sunshine — public scrutiny — is the best disinfectant against ineptitude, negligence and corruption in a democratic government. Mar 10, 2022,

-Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/sunshine_laws