And Warmth Arrives— At Little Gems, West End Gallery
There is no distress so complete but that even in the most critical moments the inexplicable sunrise of hope is seen in its depths.
–Victor Hugo, The Man Who Laughs, 1869
I’ve been featuring new small paintings that are included in this year’s edition of the Little Gems exhibit that is now hanging at the West End Gallery. The opening is this Friday, February 10 with an opening reception that runs from 5-7:30 PM.
The piece above is 6″ by 6″ on paper and is titled And Warmth Arrives. It’s part of a group of pieces I’ve been working on lately that are done in shades of gray and black with a small amount of color in the tree and sun. This contrast between the grays and the areas of color make the colors seem more intense and adds an animating quality to the piece. It also brings a sense of warmth and other positive things– hope, contentment, joy, etc.– to the more somber tone emanating from the black and grays.
This juxtaposition of dark and light feelings is nothing new in my work. Even my most color drenched paintings feature an underlying darkness that brings a contrasting tone to the optimism that might otherwise be indicated by the bright colors. This adds a realistic edge that keeps the work from seeming too naive or blind to the darker, grittier aspects of the world we inhabit.
Pragmatically hopeful. Maybe that is how this work should be described.
No matter how we describe it, I think we all look for signs of hope, especially in the darkest of instances. And that brings me to a song for today. It’s an older video of Willie Nelson doing his rendition of The World is Waiting For the Sunrise. The song was written at the end of World War I when the world was definitely in need of some pragmatic hope. It became a hit record in the 1920’s and later gained renewed fame as a 1952 hit for Les Paul and Mary Ford. It has been recorded 100’s of times over the past century but I like this swingy version from Willie who plays here with the late Paul Buskirk, who was a Texas music legend who made key contributions to Willie’s success.
Like the sunrise, this song is a good thing to wake up to.
Redtree Times 