Point of Contact — Grand Prize at Next Week’s Gallery Talk
The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
–Bertrand Russell
It’s one week until my annual Gallery Talk at the Principle Gallery. It takes place next Saturday, September 28, beginning at 1 PM. One of my favorite parts of these talks comes at its end, in a drawing that is held for one of my paintings to someone in attendance. I have written before about how I choose these pieces, that they must have personal meaning for me. The chosen prize for this talk is Point of Contact, an 11″x16″ painting on paper, framed and matted at 16″ by 21″. It’s one of those pieces that often makes me stop and consider it whenever I pass it here in the studio. To be honest, I never thought I would give it away.
But it seems like the right thing at this moment. Hope you can make it to the Gallery Talk at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria next week. I will try to make it interesting. Maybe even fun. Plus, you might be the one to take home this painting. Who knows?
Here’s what I wrote about Point of Contact several years ago:
These handful of words from the great British thinker Bertrand Russell pretty much sums up what I see in this painting, Point of Contact. And that is that there is a world of wonder within our grasp — those magical things– if only we make the effort to recognize the patterns and forces of which they are comprised.
I have said before that we are part of a greater pattern. I believe that it can be found in two simple ways– either looking inward or looking outward. Since we are formed from this pattern, we can find parts of by examining our own inner world, our thoughts and dreams. Or we can examine the world immediately around us for the hints of the pattern that are everywhere if only we can identify them.
Unfortunately, in this busy modern world we too often find ourselves doing neither. We live in a sort of limbo where we are mesmerized by the glossy lure of technologies that occupy our every moment. It’s hard to look inward or outward when our eyes and thoughts are fixed on the screen in our hands.
Don’t get me wrong– I’m no technology-resisting Luddite. I embrace the wonders of this technology when it serves us and provides a real purpose, when it expands our knowledge and sends it to the far corners of the world. The possibilities for good things from our technological often seem endless.
But none of it matters if we lose contact with the greater powers and wonders that surround us every day, forces and patterns that patiently wait for us to unravel the magic that makes them invisible to us.
These are things that may well forever be beyond technology. Maybe it is more a matter of refining our internal technology.
I know to some this sounds like a bunch of mumbo jumbo. Maybe the idea of great forces and patterns surrounding us seems a bit loony to some. I get that. But set that aside, if you must, and simply consider the benefits of looking away from your smartphone or laptop for a short time each day to examine the inner and outer world outside of that screen. Maybe if we do this on a regular basis our wits will sharpen to the point that we will better see that world of magical things as Bertrand Russell pointed out.
Redtree Times 