Redtree Times

Grandpa (January 7 1995)

Alice sighed wearily. “I think you might do something better with the time,” she said, “than wasting it in asking riddles with no answers.” “If you knew Time as well as I do,” said the Hatter, “you wouldn’t talk about wasting it.”

–Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

I’ve gone through my old works innumerable times over the years, spending many hours examining the small and often rough paintings for a memory of how or why they were painted. To see if they held something that was a step towards or even a hint of later work. Some of these pieces have held my attention and gaze for quite a bit of time.

This painting is not one of them.

I seriously believe I haven’t spent a total of thirty or forty seconds over the 31 years since it was painted. It’s just one of those pieces I give the shortest of glimpses, just to see what it is, before moving on the next one.

I don’t know the reason for this dismissiveness. Maybe it is the color combinations or maybe the flaws in its surface, especially in the sky. There are several dots of gathered cobalt blue pigment or dust in the sky that might have distracted me then. Or maybe it is such a simple and stark composition that it just never caught my eye back then or in those later quick looks? Or maybe it just felt incomplete?

I don’t know.

A layer was added to this riddle this morning when I went into the back bedroom here in the studio where my old work is stored. For the first time in decades, I held this piece up and looked closely at it. There was a lot to like when looking at it with eyes that have transformed over the years. The line of gathered pigment making up the silhouette of the hillside was strong yet delicate, exactly the sort of organic feel that has always attracted me. It was lovely.

And the anomalies in the sky that might have turned me off then now seemed like little treasures. The perfection sought then seems ridiculous now.

Then I noticed the title written in pencil at the bottom along with the date: Grandpa 1//7/1995.

For all I know, this might have been the first time I noticed that title in all this time. It caught me off guard and surprised me.

I have absolutely no idea why I gave this painting that title. Don’t remember it at all.

Maybe it was that large bare tree?  Years before the Red Tree came about, I always felt like trees were family members of a sort. That’s probably why the Red Tree came to dominate my work. Maybe this large old tree with all its leaves long gone symbolized my grandfather for me. It does somewhat remind me now of the large old black walnut trees that were anchors of our yard in our early home. A lot of my memories revolve around those trees including the August day on which my Dad’s father died. I remember him sitting in an old Adirondack style wooden chair by the house for the longest time, silent with a blank faraway stare after getting the news.

Maybe it was that connection that had me titling this piece Grandpa?

Again, I don’t know. It will remain a riddle for me.

But it adds a layer of interest for me, one that will no doubt having me examine it a bit closer when I go through my work next time.

I’m glad I looked closer this morning. Nice to have yet another riddle to ponder.

Here’s a song that doesn’t really have anything to do with this post. Or does it? I just happened to stumble across this version of a favorite song this morning and loved it. It’s Ella Fitzgerald accompanied by Joe Pass on guitar performing Nature Boy. Made popular by the great Nat King Cole, I’ve shared the story of the song and the man who wrote it, eden ahbez, a few times here. Great song and performance. You can never go wrong with Ella.