Night Nurse

"Just a Small Cut"

LBT, 87 years old and paralyzed from the chest down, was dying in my bedroom for 7.5 months. She had a marvelously upbeat attitude most of the time, even as dementia distorted her sense of reality near the end. I was her night attendant, coming whenever she called. 

This is one of the paintings from that period. It began as a lark to lighten another of LBT's boring days in bed... I taped a large piece of paper on the wall at the end of her bed when she wasn't looking. A few minutes later I bounced into the room dressed in underwear and stood up against the paper in the above pose, noisily convincing FT to trace an outline of my body with pencil. Ooo-la-la! It was rudimentary technique, but LBT was completely surprised and charmed by the whole clumsy and theatrically unfolding event between her son and me. 

There were quite a few women in those days (2009) who could see themselves as the character in the painting.

Big Scene in a Small Space

"Threesome"

1.5"x1.5"

Experiment: How much content can one put in a tiny space?

Content above: Two nude men bathing, one woman clothed washing more clothes in a mountain stream in a fast moving pool at the top of a waterfall. Rocky cliffs, evergreens and the sky are in the distance. Symbols of love and sorrow and movement go in and out of the frame.

Inspiration from an Art-filled Writer

Every now and then I come across novel authors who have so much art in their souls they come across as more poet than story teller. Annie Dillard is a well known writer of this style.

Here is another who colors with such insight I feel I'm reading paintings, or is it music, or is it history, or is it philosophy as I'm turning her pages: Whitney Otto

These kinds of writers sneak into our souls, feed us substance, nourish our vocabulary, encourage us to say what we know deep down inside because she/he knows it as well. Kind of like a dog kiss that says "You may doubt yourself, but I speak your language and love what you say."

Treasure is Nowhere and Everywhere, Depending on Attitude

"The Searchers"

3.5"x3.5"

Again, a tiny window into a big picture.

Click to telescope in.

Creativity Demands Play

"The Risk Takers"

(6"x5")

From this goofy drawing I will be listening in on many delightful thoughts or conversations. I already snuck in on 6 just looking at the top inch of activity. They will be showing up on my cartoon blog.

Heroes and Heroines

"A (K)Night's Dream"

(2.5" x 3.4" gouache)

Internal Balance, a Quest Through the Ages

"Finding Internal Balance"

This 2"x3"miniature qouache took two days to create last week. Various images within the composition came to me slowly, but clearly once seen. I find designs from antiquity within various cultures appeared, as seen in the rocks and clothing of the figures. The black dog refers to the beloved labradors my father kept by his side, bought from the Camaldoli Hermitage monks of Big Sur.