why dance alone, when i’m here?
ever so endlessly, devoted to you
from the summer edition series.
What are you devoted too? What are you willing to sacrifice?
For Bhare, nothing is left on the table. Love and loyalty occupies the dining room chairs, just inches away from the makeshift ballroom floor. A bouquet of sweet smelling flowers, hums along to a leafy green vinyl. Here we watch them dance the night away, in a visual recital — dedicated the ones we devote all of ourselves to.
“on pointed toe”
twirling counter clockwise
grasping flowers in faux,
we dance and prance to romanticize
a quaint little studio
we'll eventually outsize.
you know,
i'll never let go.
i'm ever so endlessly, devoted to you.
- poem pulled from the artwork description by bhare.
“Why shift into utilizing multiple characters in this edition set?”
Well, two heads are better than one.
As much I would like to say I do everything alone, I don’t. Life is full of shared experiences, of happiness, of sadness — of love. Shit, even the distribution of my artwork is a shared one. Ever so endless, devoted to you, marks itself as the fourth edition in my summer edition series, despite being the oldest of the bunch.
Early in my career, I kept everything close to the chest. I had a tightly clasped safe, old and wooden (metaphorically) with notes, sketches, even full completed paintings. It didn’t feel necessary to show off these things, even more so to the people closest to me. I danced alone in my ballroom of art.
As a moved forward, slowly that safe displayed rusty locks. It cracked and broke at the seams. I stopped spit shining it awhile ago. I opened up myself to experiencing life and art with community, showing my loved ones eveything I had to offer from myself.
Devotion not only speaks to love but also to loyalty, and even a profound dedication. Two characters, joined hand-in-hand, represents that concept to the tee. The love in a gentle grip, loyalty sinking deeper into the eyes and a dedication to finishing the personal recital.
Why dance alone, when they’re here?
“How does edition expand on the current series offerings?”
In this series, I expand on lines in a poem — with each line revealing itself in the following week’s edition.
Originally, this wasn’t a line in the draft of the poem, though I found it fitting perfectly after examining older works of mine. Currently it reads as,
sometimes going backwards into old habits
warm as a knitted blanket,
peering into muddled eyes
ever so endless, devoted to you.
Each line exists in two realms, one be it of it’s visual representation and one within the frame work of the poem. Following the set up from the pervious edition, it’s assumed to the reader that line will reveal another character outside of the one introduced. Disregarding a traditional rhyme scheme, I currently aimed to flow in a way bouncing from negative to positive connotation.
“So where is this painting now?”
As of the time of writing this, it’s safely housed in the studio vault. At the time of the release of this article it will available for collection below.
All other editions from the summer edition series has sold out.
About the Artist
Shareon “Bhare” Blenman is a multidisciplinary artist based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Born in 1998 to Barbadian immigrant parents, Bhare initially pursued a career as a chef before transitioning into the art world. His diverse practice encompasses traditional canvas work, digital oil paintings, sculptures, and even ventures into skateboarding design.
Bhare earned his undergraduate degree from Johnson & Wales University, balancing various creative jobs during the early stages of the global lockdown. By the age of 23, his work had already been showcased in traditional and digital galleries across North America and Europe. He has exhibited in more than three professional galleries and sold over 30 pieces in his debut year.
Now at 26, Bhare has been featured extensively in a magazine, completed a 40-foot commission for the Spectrum Center, and even had his work sold through Sotheby’s.
Bhare currently lives and works in Charlotte, North Carolina. He merges his work through both traditional and digital styles, exhibiting with prestigious galleries in New York, Pennsylvania, Los Angeles, Copenhagen and most recently Toronto.