Picture Window

"...against the ruin of the world, there is only one defense - the creative act."

- Kenneth Rexroth

Picture Window, 12"x18", watercolor

From the day in October until the day before he died, Michael and I texted every day sometimes more. Prior to this, we exchanged messages maybe every other day sometimes two. Usually the message were to just say hello or to exchange a picture of something beautiful we saw in our travels.

The last picture he sent me was from the bedroom window. He had an artist's eye even though photography wasn't his chosen medium. I had thought of painting it almost immediately. I love the cools against the warms and Sutro tower in the distance.

Maybe going through this painting helped me to decide. And! I decided the best way through this grief was to attempt an art piece every month somehow Michael inspired. This isn't easy. I know because I tried this before.

Desert Rose II, 4"x14", tapestry

I really love the painting Desert Rose. It was so different from his other work. The minute I saw it I bought it. It hangs in my home and I get to see treasure it every day.

I was so inspired I attempted a tapestry version of it. This is small but proportionate to the original at a 1:3 ratio. It was a gift to him, but has since returned to me.

My thought is to try again. I also have the artist's eye. This time though I'll try as a reduction lino cut. I'm not sure how to do this, but I've got ideas. For me if I have one idea, I then have seventeen more. This is both a good thing and a problem. If I persevere, I usually succeed, and I usually persevere.

So much of Michael's work is about feeling. I don't know for sure how he felt, but I know how his work makes me feel. The work of his I always gravitated towards had the feeling of wishes, hopes, invitation, obstruction, and love. I will riff on those feelings while I'm making this art.

Then there's the art I want to make. Some of it is in response to world events. Some of it just my inner self saying hello to the world.

My friend Erin sent me this picture a ways back of her daughter reading a book. Melody was eight months old when this picture was taken. She's only four now, but still loves to read.

There was a challenge posted from United Against Book Bans to post art/words regarding the worth of reading and libraries in the United States. I submitted this painting as it's powerful. Someone this tiny, this young, studiously enjoying a book highlights how reading and libraries affect growth and development. What she is doing is important work.

Sometimes I chastise myself for not doing enough during this time of disintegration. In the last seventy days or so, we've all lost so much and there's more to lose. Our leaders don't be seem to be saying very much. I don't know why they're silent. Maybe they've never been bullied before. Maybe they don't know that the best way to stop a bully is to stand up and say something true.

The true thing I've been saying all my life is that rich people are rich because we give them our money. I can't be pure about this; but when I can, I trade with people who are the same economic spectrum as me. I don't buy off Amazon or use Facebook and having never even had a driver's license I surely don't need a Tesla. I have 98% of the time chosen to support the local businesses around me. I have chosen to shop at the farmer's market. I have chosen to take public transit. I have chosen to repair a broken item instead of buy new. Some of you may see this as some sort of penance on my part, but honestly y'all it is a liberation. I invite you to give it a try.

Take care and see you soon.