In Full Regalia— Coming to West End Gallery
He alone is great and happy who fills his own station of independence and has neither to command nor to obey.
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Götz von Berlichingen
The new painting above is a small one, coming in at a mere 5″ by 5″ on panel. It is headed to the West End Gallery later this week for their annual Little Gems show that opens in early February.
I call this painting In Full Regalia. I tend to view pieces such as this as much portraits as they are landscapes. The crown and trunk of the tree represent the head and neck of the portrait’s subject while the mound on which the tree grows serves as the shoulders and body.
For this piece, the multicolored plots of land that make up the mound reminded me of a rich robe, something that might have been worn by royalty.
It made me think that this might be a royal portrait.
And in a way, it is and was meant to be such.
The idea of self-sovereignty is a recurring theme in my work. And in my life.
It’s a concept where the individual maintains sole authority over their body and mind, action and thought. They alone determine the direction of their life and the choices they make.
They are, in effect, rulers over the realm that is their life.
It’s a way of looking at one’s life that is very much focused on personal independence and the power of the individual. I think that is why the Red Tree most often stands alone in my work, way from the other gathered trees that make up the forest. Maybe it’s a need for elbow room or the desire to be seen as an individual rather than part of a group.
Whatever the reason, we often notice the tree that stands alone in the landscape. Much as we often notice the individual who lives their life in the way they choose. Those who march to the beat of a different drum.
That’s seems like a perfect segue into a song to complete today’s triad. The song is Different Drum which, as many might know, was a hit record for Linda Ronstadt with the Stone Poneys in 1967. However, the song was written by Michael Nesmith in 1964, a few years before he became best known as the droll, stocking-capped guitarist for The Monkees. It was originally recorded by a bluegrass group, The Greenbriar Boys, in 1964 though the song was performed much in the same way as the later Ronstadt/Stone Poneys version. Nesmith recorded it in 1972 and it has a more folkie, bluegrassy sound. I like it a lot.
It’s its own thing. Like the Red Tree, it stands apart from the forest.
Redtree Times 