Praise the Moment– At the Principle Gallery Saturday!
A thinking man’s greatest happiness is to have fathomed what can be fathomed and to revere in silence what cannot be fathomed.
–Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Maxims and Reflections (1833)
Getting things around for my Gallery Talk at the Principle Gallery that takes place this Saturday, September 26, beginning at 1 PM. As I mentioned in previous posts, I am bringing a select group of new work to the gallery. My week has been occupied thus far with varnishing and framing the work, along with other detail work that must be done.
This part of the process, as necessary as it is, always disrupts my painting flow. And at this time, this disruption is eating at me more than usual. In the past few weeks, I have written several times about how my time spent painting has been a tremendous source of relief from the effects of my treatment, especially the sometime overwhelming fatigue that plagues me. It has all seemed to fade away when I am at work at the easel.
This not being able to paint hit me hard yesterday. I slogged through the last half of my day like I was dragging battleship chains and an anchor behind me. Just dead tired, both physically and mentally.
Even so, there were moments in the day that momentarily seemed to ease the weight of those chains. For example, working with this new painting shown here, Praise the Moment, and seeing it fully presented in its frame at last. This good sized piece, 30″ by 15″ on canvas, has lived in the corner of my eye since it came off the easel a several weeks ago. I am constantly stealing glances at this painting, gladdened and soothed by its richness of color, light, and mood.
I could go on and on trying to explain what it says to me and how it moves me but I believe that would be a fruitless effort. Sometimes, a meaningful piece of art is much like the maxim at the top from Goethe: You understand what is plainly meant to be understood, and you silently appreciate, even revere, that which is beyond your understanding.
This is one of those pieces for me. Trying to explain what there is in it that moves me would be a fool’s errand, one that might even distract from its inherent and intangible strength.
It demands my reverent silence.
Praise the Moment will be at the Principle Gallery Saturday. The Gallery Talk is free and open to all as always. It begins at 1 PM and concludes with a drawing for one(?) of my paintings. If you have attended one of my Gallery Talks in the past, you know there are always some other surprises as well. Be forewarned however that this is an event that truly works best with your participation in the form 0f questions and comments. But know that I will do my damnedest to make it work so that we all leave happy.
Hard to believe this is about my 22nd or 23rd Gallery Talk at the Principle Gallery. Where does the time go? Here’s a favorite song that speaks to that unanswerable question and seems to fit the tone of this painting for me, especially the lyrics shown here:
Sad, deserted shore, your fickle friends are leaving
Ah, but then you know it’s time for them to go
But I will still be here, I have no thought of leaving
I do not count the time
For who knows where the time goes?
Who knows where the time goes?
–Who Knows Where the Time Goes, Sandy Denny and Fairport Convention (1969)