Although we all know George is a magical storyteller I too have had my moments maybe not of genius but might I say, not too far off.

In the earliest days of working on this project, it hit home to me that George Lucas was not just a simple filmmaker but was obviously treated as the creator and head of a multi-billion dollar corporation. I knew something else in advance through the experience of a couple of past projects with super important people who I have worked with. Their schedules would probably be impossible to arrange to line up with me for a formal or even a casual unveiling of my painting. But I wanted George to have what we call an authentic Suchiu Art experience when he viewed my finished art for the first time at his offices in San Francisco. So I came up with a way to convince him that the Force was not just something that he made up but it actually might be real!

So how did I do that?

After several conversations with my Lucas Film contacts including lawyers, executives, VPs, etc I came to realize the only way to convince George that I actually used the Force was to add something in the painting that I couldn’t possibly know about. I knew George’s personal office was probably the only place that might have special sentimental items that the public would know little about and never have access to so I asked so-and-so (I don’t want to mention names here) when he would be away from his office for a bit. When the individuals asked why, I let them in on my plan and one of them said “Even I could lose my job over that”! You see, I was asking that individual to sneak into his office while he was away and photograph whatever personal things he might be displaying for his own enjoyment and/or inspiration. I would then confirm if the objects could or should be used in the art piece. Meanwhile, George, knowing that I was over fifteen hundred miles away would be told that “Suchiu said he used the Force to see these special items and added them to the art” at the time of the unveiling it to him.

OK… so I cheated a bit but I did manage to add that Suchiu Art experience I was hoping for, one that I feel quite certain the George will not forget.

So what were the items?

George has the Tiffany lamp behind him on his credenza, he also has the little figures of the Cantina band on his desk, and from what I was told they are some of his favorite characters (whaaaat?).

Another object I saw on his desk which intrigued me the most was what appeared to be an ancient Japanese warrior on horseback. I found this one interesting for several reasons. First because of the bent spear, oh, it is straightened in my painting but it was terribly bent downwards on his desk. I couldn’t help to think “Why would a guy who was worth billions leave the statue in such a state”?

The second thing I noticed was the extremely cheap wooden oak frame on the base of the piece was repaired with a couple normal nails that you would build a fence or a crate or something with. It looked to me like this piece was purchased from a yard sale, which it might have been.

Then looking very closely at the actual rider on the horse I noticed something that made a lot of sense. This piece was probably purchased by George when he was very young and probably had very little money but the helmet on this little miniature guy was in fact almost identical to Darth Vader’s helmet. That makes sense… yes that would be the perfect inspirational reason for him to cherish the item, and probably for the rest of his life.