Redtree Times

Silent Eye of Night- At West End Gallery

This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best,
Night, sleep, death and the stars.

–Walt Whitman, A Clear Midnight

First day of May. Suddenly the deadline for getting the work ready for my June show at the Principle Gallery seems so much closer than it did just yesterday. It was only April then and the June show seemed months off. A distant dot on the horizon. I know it’s just a matter of perception, but time feels as though it constricted greatly in the last 24 hours.

The once distant dot has transformed into a growing knot in my gut.

Of course, as I have noted here in the past, this is all expected. I’ve been through this many, many times before with my solo shows. This feeling comes with every show, without fail.

So, after nearly 70 solo shows, it doesn’t approach as a stranger to me.

What that translates to is that I am shortening my time on this blog this morning and heading right to work. I am already feeling late. In lieu of any semblance of original thinking this morning I am sharing a triad of a bit of verse from Uncle Walt, a painting of mine now at the West End Gallery, and a 1966 version from Marvin Gaye of a song written by Willie Nelson in the late 1950’s, Night Life.

Do what you will with it all– I have to go now.