RADIOACTIVE

“Radioactive” By Nick Ringelstetter

This was another life altering piece for our artist, not just because of the piece itself, but because of the unbelievable backstory that comes with it. At the end of Nick’s first Florida tour, he found himself in a position that most only dream about. With his first experience in Florida, Nick was driving back and forth from the South to the Midwest, and while many people had opinions about this, Nick found the drive to be a great time to analyze his shows and consider what was working and what wasn’t. But of course, this way of doing things hit the pocket book hard.

In desperate need of a break, Nick agreed to go on his one and only Tinder date with a like-minded, free spirited individual. They went on a kayaking trip and ended up on an island that was abandoned after the hurricane hit, and they explored the ruins of houses left to decay. Everything was destroyed and covered in graffiti, and the whole trip had an ominous feeling as though Nick might not return from the excursion. The exhaustion Nick had been feeling from the bum tour drove him to enjoy the situation regardless, because even if he didn’t survive it, it was a worthwhile experience.

Now of course, Nick did make it back from the abandoned island and he found himself at a show in Tallahassee when a man approached him hoping to buy an original, but wanting time to think on it first. This isn’t uncommon for Nick, people say this to him frequently, but it’s rare that people actually do come back. When the show was over this man returned, still eager to buy a piece but finding himself stuck between two choices. Ultimately, rather than purchasing something he was unsure of, he commissioned our artist to create a new piece, incorporating a few personal subjects to the buyer like Big Foot, marlin fish, and pelicans.

This was Nick’s last show in Florida for the season and he was flummoxed to find that a complete stranger was going to pay him a large sum of money for a painting that did not yet exist right before he left the state. It was such an unbelievable moment that he all but froze up. But Nick knew he needed to trust this situation, so he accepted the offer and headed back to the Midwest. When the check cleared he immediately got started. Knowing that this savior of a Floridian man paid roughly two months salary for Nick and made it possible to attend his next sequence of upcoming shows, Nick decided to go all out with this piece, making it as complex as possible while tying together the requested subjects and his own personal experience on the abandoned island to create his interpretation of what life under the ocean surface could be like.

On the top of this painting, you find a calming setting with a peaceful ship, but you could have never guessed what you would find beneath it if you didn’t take the plunge. Under the water, there appears to be a toxic wasteland where everything had been mutated, but the creatures are all having fun regardless, doing what they can to make the best out of a bad situation, just as Nick did when he found himself in a tough spot in Florida.

Being that the buyer was a children’s dentist requesting a piece incorporating pelicans, it felt only right to add in the characters from “Finding Nemo”, and of course the requested marlin fish who seem to be enjoying the Rubix Cube with childlike wonder. This piece is also done with the “Forbidden Effect” that Nick unknowingly created. This piece is structured with a normal painting, black light paint, and a 3D effect. Nick did what he could to go the extra mile for this buyer because he was so grateful for this opportunity to not only create something, but to be able to afford to continue creating. The real magic of this piece, and this story, is the reminder that life wants to work with you, doing its best to give you exactly what you need, even if you don’t know that you need it.