The Long View– Part of the Principle Gallery Show, June 2022
Do you see how an act is not, as young men think, like a rock that one picks up and throws, and it hits or misses, and that’s the end of it. When that rock is lifted, the earth is lighter; the hand that bears it heavier. When it is thrown, the circuits of the stars respond, and where it strikes or falls, the universe is changed. On every act the balance of the whole depends. The winds and seas, the powers of water and earth and light, all that these do, and all that the beasts and green things do, is well done, and rightly done. All these act within the Equilibrium. From the hurricane and the great whale’s sounding to the fall of a dry leaf and the gnat’s flight, all they do is done within the balance of the whole.
But we, insofar as we have power over the world and over one another, we must learn to do what the leaf and the whale and the wind do of their own nature. We must learn to keep the balance. Having intelligence, we must not act in ignorance. Having choice, we must not act without responsibility.
― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Farthest Shore
The painting at the top, The Long View, is included in my annual solo show at the Principle Gallery that opens a week from today. It’s a piece that checks a lot of boxes on the list of things that I look for in my own work.
In short, it makes me happy. Maybe happy isn’t the right word. Maybe I should say that it makes me feel contented. Or balanced. Not really sure but who cares about a word to describe it when you have the actual wordless feeling at hand?
I guess I should try to explain, however.
One of the things that greatly attract me to this painting is the geometry of it. It feels totally balanced to me from a compositional standpoint. That’s all fine and good, something I look for in all my work. But this piece achieves it with many geometric shapes formed by the various elements within it. I see all sorts of triangles and quadrilaterals in it. And I’m not talking about the field with actual quadrilaterals in the bottom right quarter of the painting.
Instead of trying to explain, I did a quick image of the painting with lines showing some of the shapes I am describing. A picture worth’s a thousand words, as they say.
Now, to be honest, I don’t know what this proves. Maybe I just like drawing lines on things, I don’t know. I think, however, that the geometric relationships between various elements create rhythms and harmonies that our minds pick up on and synchronize to on a subconscious level. And that is what I see in this piece.
Hey, that sounds pretty good. And here I am, thinking it was just blather.
The bottom line is that, for whatever reason, this painting speaks to some deeper part of me.
All I can hope for in my work.
The Long View is 24″ by 24″ on aluminum panel, and is now at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA as part of my annual solo show which kicks off with an opening reception next Friday, June 3, 2022.
Unfortunately, I will not be attending the opening. It took a lot of time and agonizing to come to that decision. I truly want to get back to speaking freely with folks about my work at openings and gallery talks, but I am still hesitant and more than a little uncomfortable in doing so.
That might seem unreasonable or unwarranted. Maybe so. The isolation brought on by the pandemic has certainly brought the reclusive part of me to the front burner. It was there before but that built-in urge towards solitariness has really blossomed in the past few years. Just going beyond the end our driveway for whatever reason, even running to get gas for the mower, has become a momentous event.
Maybe that’s crazy. Could be. There are a lot of other reasons for my not being able to attend the opening but I will spare you the details. Maybe later in the year or next year, who knows?
I do know that I will certainly miss a lot of the folks I’ve come to know over the years down there. And I would dearly love to see this show on the wall. I think it’s a certifiably strong show, perhaps my best in many years. It’s filled with deep, rich pieces that I think will hang beautifully in that wonderful space at the Principle Gallery.
I am hoping you will make it there. You can let me know if I was right.
Redtree Times 