Redtree Times

Radiant Hearts– At Kada Gallery

Without strong affection, and humanity of heart, and gratitude to that Being whose code is mercy, and whose great attribute is benevolence to all things that breathe, true happiness can never be attained.

–Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

This new painting, Radiant Hearts, certainly falls in the Baucis & Philemon series of my work, with its intertwined trees representing the aged couple from Greek mythology were granted an eternal life together by Zeus in recognition of the goodwill they had extended to him when he appeared in their town disguised as a beggar. Though they were the poorest of the townspeople that Zeus had approached that day, they were the only ones who opened their home to the masked Zeus and offered to him all that they possessed.

Zeus swept away that town with a mighty flood that killed all. That is, all except Baucis & Philemon.

Moved by their benevolence and charity, as well as their obvious bonds of love, Zeus spared them. He then made them priests and guardians of a shining golden temple that arose from the now receding flood waters in the place where the town had once stood. And when they died simultaneously years later, he granted them their wish that they remain together for eternity by transforming them into two trees on a hillside that grew from one trunk.

This piece, Radiant Hearts, has a great warmth and sense of harmony. Much like the painting from yesterday’s post, A Rising Peace, this piece had an immediate calming effect for me. Whenever I stopped to take it in, I would lose myself in the glow of the colors and the rhythm of the forms of the landscape and the light of the sky.

In those times when I did so while feeling a bit disenchanted with mankind, it had a way of replacing my misanthropy with feelings that were more generous towards my fellow humans– and myself, as well. It would calm me and allow me to focus on the good of this world rather than on its darker aspects.

Maybe it is that same spirit of calmness that Zeus felt as he witnessed the love and generosity of Baucis & Philemon.

I can imagine that being the case.

Here’s a song rom the late Warren Zevon that feels right for this post. It’s Keep Me in Your Heart, a song that he wrote while in the throes of the terminal cancer that took his life. Zevon led an interesting, if sometimes crazy, life. His father, a Jewish Russian immigrant, was a bookie and close friend of mobster Mickey Cohen. When Warren was 13 he studied with Igor Stravinsky before quitting high school in the early 60’s to go to NYC to be a folksinger. He knocked around for years before finding success both as a songwriter and performer. This success came and went several times, often as result of his own self-destructive behavior. He died in 2003 at age 56. I’ve always thought it was shame that so many people only know him for Werewolves of London when he wrote so many other beautiful songs such as this.

Radiant Hearts is a 24″ by 12″ canvas that is included in Places of Peace, my new solo exhibit that opens tomorrow, Friday, November 4, at Kada Gallery in Erie, PA. There is an Opening Reception running from 6-9 PM. I will be in attendance, my first appearance at Kada since my 2017 show there. I hope you can find time to stop in to say hello and see this piece and the rest in the show.