Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Pastels 119 and 120 - Drawing Like a Child

These happened together in one afternoon.  I was letting go and trying to think and imagine more like a child.  I'm not able to reach it - I still know too much and I'm still guided too much by reason and ideas.  When some (few) artists achieve this later in life, I am impressed and delighted.



Monday, September 14, 2015

Pastel 118 - Moon and Mountain Fields

From the first time I really listened I have been powerfully moved by the words to Simon and Garfunkel's "America." The vivid way it captures the changing moods of two people on a long bus trip, and the introverted confession of the final verse, stir me deeply. The music supports those words in ways I never tire of hearing. Particularly the very quiet section behind this:
"Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat.
We smoked the last one an hour ago.
So I looked at the scenery,
She read her magazine,
And the moon rose over an open field."
The last line, in particular, feels like the heart of the song.

When I drew this pastel, several weeks ago, we were still lost in our fight with cancer, not knowing yet the good news we had shortly afterward.  And I was anticipating our annual trip to the mountains to put our lives back together.  And though I do not understand how all of these things align, I feel how deeply they do.