Gemotions

He stared at his reflection, the lines around his eyes etched deeper than usual. The news had spread like wildfire. A private commission, a sprawling landscape across a woman’s entire back. He felt exposed, stripped bare. The woman was at his art exhibit the day prior, laughing and smiling. Her gesture was now a joke to him.

He picked up a palette knife, running its cold edge across his cheek, a perverse desire to replicate the sensation of pain. He threw it down, the clatter a sharp punctuation in the quiet room. He had poured his heart and soul into his work, and now it was out there, on display, a public spectacle. He wanted to rip all of his work from his gallery, and lock himself away.