Tuesday, September 1, 2009

My Strength after Hurricane Ike

My Strength after Hurricane Ike

Dragonflies flitter across the ruined landscape, mating in the noonday sun.
They are oblivious to the devastation surrounding them.
Monarch butterflies ply their ancient agenda among the wild flowers which sprout up in the wreckage of lives.
I walk down a tranquil garden path,
White jasmine and pink cherry blossom flowers drift down around me in the warm air.
I see my beloved, at the end of the path, her hair golden in the sun.
Her emerald green eyes invite me forward.
I remember standing under a hidden waterfall, deep in a secret verdant forest.
Laughing, my small children run past me into their mother’s arms.
“The big wind-e-o is gone” my daughter says.
Like a great fallen bird the building where I painted on large canvas lies destroyed.
The strong arm of my oldest son rests upon my shoulder,
“It looks like you need to build your studio a bit stronger next time Dad” he says.

We laugh together.

To be a great artist you must first be a great craftsman

To me that is the same as saying to represent light effectively in an artwork you must first understand the nature of how light effects objects in the real world.