The strange painting of "K"

obscure painting by ROCCO SCIBETTA comes back from the internet to haunt him

           This painting that I did many years ago is a Haitian woman that I used as a model a few times for a series of paintings called messages in bottles. They were a series of surreal land and seascapes that all had a bottle with a message painted in them somewhere.
       The woman who I called "K" because that is what it sounded like she was saying, was so impressed by the painting, I offered it to her as a thank you before she left to go back to Haiti. She was so happy that she put a spell on it, some kind of ritualistic prayer she chanted. and said that "Because you have given the painting away in good faith < It will always be with you."

         On the day she was supposed to leave I was straightening up my workspace and I found the painting behind some books, I was sad,  I thought she had forgotten it. I was sure she took it with her. I put it away and forgot about it. then I entered a show and needed an Oddball piece to display and dug up the bottle painting. I put it up with some others that fit the theme and people stared at it but no one would go near it. .Finally, a man came up to me and went on a great deal about it how it reminded him of someone and he wanted to make a gift of it, but he lived in Ireland. If I could wrap it and send it to an address he supplied he would pay me extra for my trouble. because I had a PayPal account I told him I needed a deposit and he could pay the rest in full to the account and I would send it out. He agreed he paid me the deposit. and I never heard from him again. The number and address he gave were defunct. I waited to hear from him, but he never came back or called me. I still have the painting. Debts being what they were, as unscrupulous as it may sound; I corn beefed the deposit...luckily it was cash. I do hope St. Patrick will forgive me.

     After a year or two I gave up on ever hearing from Tom again, that s what he said his name was Tom. I hung it in a small cafe that had just opened in Point Pleasant NJ.

a man kept staring at the painting of " K"  saying to me over and over with nerve wrenching edginess, " I really want to have this painting, but I'm not sure, I am just not sure.".
 I didn't have any business cards with me so I told him to ask the proprietor of the cafe to contact me when he made up his mind. The woman who booked the show called me a few days later and told me he wanted the painting but wants to negotiate on the price. The show was ending in 2 days so I planned to meet him at the cafe and we could settle a price. At this point, I was ready to just be rid of the thing at any reasonable offer.

When I went to the cafe at the designated time no one was there only the owner. As I was taking down the piece to pack it away I inquired about the man,
To which the woman running the show replied;

" OH, They brought him back to the hospital. It seems he escaped from a mental institution, he was allowed to visit his family for a Birthday, he went out for a coffee and he never returned home.He took off, absconded. The Police, his family and a hospital worker finally apprehended him here, after 2 months on the lamb.  someone tipped- off the authorities."

I still have the painting.

Later It became part of a movie for a scene from "Letters of a runaway slave". An independent film.The painting acquired notoriety and a great deal of attention, but I still have it.

The point of all of this tired and prolix story is that today I googled something that had absolutely nothing to do with this painting or the strange Haitian woman in it and there it was right in front of me on my screen. I have no idea why or even how it got on network images.And as for the Message in the bottle...What do you think it is?

"Portrait of K " message in a bottle series By Rocco Scibetta

mixed media on canvas