“The Sense” is an abstract representation of a song by the band Hot Water Music. The red, orange, and yellow in the painting represent a flame metaphor held in the lyrics, which represents an ongoing emotional struggle in ruminating over past experiences.
Named after a book by Los Angeles hero Charles Bukowski, Hot Water Music is a punk rock band from Gainesville, Florida. The band was the product of singer Chuck Ragan (b.1974) , the son of a PGA pro golfer and a gospel singer, who became increasingly reclusive and rebellious in his youth.
After being kicked out of high school, and habitually a runaway, Chuck was eventually detained in a long-term rehabilitation center. After he completed fourteen months, his insight proved to be so substantial that he was asked to be a paraprofessional facilitator, and stay to help counsel kids his age and older.
Deep with struggle, depression, and regret, his songs show an unapologetic, terrifying, and therapeutic honesty. Today, Hot Water Music is on hiatus and he takes pride in his family, fly fishing, and his solo acoustic folk music career.