Redtree Times

Hermitage— Part of the upcoming West End Gallery Show

Silence, solitude, what is more essential to the human condition? “Maternal silence” is what I like to call it. Life before the coming of language. That place where we begin to hear the voice of the inanimate. Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them. We are always at the beginning, eternal apprentices, thrown back again and again into that condition.

— Charles Simić, The Uncertain Certainty: Interviews, Essays, and Notes on Poetry, 1985

I am at that point in the process of getting the work prepared for my upcoming show where everything is chaotic. Little time for silence or stillness. This hectic point is the polar opposite from the quietness of mind needed to actually create the work. It makes me appreciate the time I get to do just that.

Makes me want to get back to my hermitage on my little private island of silence. I usually consider my studio in this way but at this point the work has bridged itself to the outside world. It is an island now. Just a busy, buzzy studio.

Small islands often appear in my work. They represent a desired place of solitariness for me, free from the sounds and stirrings of others. They carry an almost sacred meaning in the dialogue I have with my work. 

The title of the smaller piece shown at the top, Hermitage, reflects that meaning. It is a small island bearing only the Red Tree and a lone figure that stands looking back at the mainland. I should note here that my islands are often not so isolated from larger land masses. They are not so far removed to be totally isolated and independent from the world beyond their shoreline.

They remain visible and in contact. They are just quietly there, unbothered and bothering no one.

A perfect place for a would-be hermit.

Here is a song from Gregory Alan Isakov that lines up pretty well with this post. This is Before the Sun.

Hermitage is an 8″ by 16″ ink and acrylic painting on canvas. It is included in Eye in the Sky, my solo exhibit opening Friday, July 21, at the West End Gallery. I will be in attendance for the opening reception on that evening beginning at 5 PM.  We are still working out details for a Gallery Talk. Stay tuned for details.