Though the release from pain has been joyous, to my surprise, a surge of innovation did not rush in. So as I often do, I tinker. My studio has lots of failed or unfinished paintings about. There are many opportunities for rescue.
As rapid as my recovery has been, I`m careful not to over extend my new knee. So I haven`t yet been back to some of my sources of inspiration. However we are planning a visit to Minto Brown Island. I`ve never been there in the summer and its cool muddy lagoons will be seductive and quiet. I will happily work with the thousand shades of green.
Meanwhile, these are what I`ve been up to;
Because it`s always best to have a paintbrush in hand when inspiration sweeps in, sometimes I`ll do something I`ve already done. Usually in a different medium like I did here. The site, the confluence of Fanno Creek with the Tualatin River, is dense with possibility. What I mean by that is not just the beauty but also the spatial relationships of trees to water to grasses. That couple of acres is almost Japanese in its elegant proportions.
As I remember, I had recently returned from the Finley Wildlife Reserve and I was trying to depict the delicate new grasses arising from a huge field that had been underwater. I believed she texted and said she was in the area and wanted to meet me. I said sure and because I was already in process with this, she watched me paint. Probably because I was talking, that fresh green field turned into a scene of apocalypse right before our eyes. Oh well. She was worth meeting.
As the Moon rises, eyes of the animals rise from the forest into her light.
That was the opening sentence of a poem I read in 1970 in a library. I`ve been trying to find the complete work ever since, to no avail. With the internet, I should be able to find it but haven`t.
Notorious Pam was here again doing what she does best, redistributing wealth. She was on a mission and when she was through she had bought nine of my best works on paper! She sent me photos after they were framed;
She sure did honor the paintings! Thank you Pam, you do beautiful things.
Among the many sad aspects to living with chronic pain is how small your world becomes. In my recent experience, I couldn`t shake the feeling that I was at the end of my life. Time to wrap things up. It wasn`t rational, I know what the actuarial tables predict but it was there. My family assured me it was the legs and they were right. I`m appalled at the idea now and feel sorry for that guy getting ready to go. I feel better than I have in years. Far more than I should after having atrophied for so long. And to my delight, arthritis elsewhere in my body, such as the other knee, is mostly gone!
The universe sent me this story just the other day;
She was lonely after her husband died so she took up painting. She was 85! Read her remarkable story!
John says we need to paint the house.
If my house looked like this one in Burkina Faso, I`d just sit on the lawn and look at it.
This is why I love watercolor.
In Mexico this dog walked through a parade for the Pope thinking it was for him
work for sale in my studio [updated]
4 comments:
I hardly know what to say I am so engaged with what you have shared. If I were in Pam's position I would be purchasing every one of these. You know I am drawn to that first one and Flood Plain.
You are back my friend, better than ever.
Love that last piece Pam purchased.
And the dog... classic.
One of the delights of having been to South Africa is my memory of the painted houses; some were remarkable.
Great post Randall - sounds like you're too busy enjoying a life without pain to do much painting! Like Maureen I particularly love that last piece - could lose myself in it for hours. And the link to the 102 year old painter - inspirational!
I am so happy that you are without pain, finally!! Really like the paintings - that one with that burst of golden yellow is just a treat for the eye and soul. And how great to have a patron who comes with the intention of taking home a lot of your paintings (she has a good eye as every one is a winner). We are never too late as long as we have the spirit and the strength to put our ideas and creations on paper - and here I was feeling old until you shared that link to the woman who began late in life :)
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