Painting the Past

I stand at my easel with brush in hand
facing a blank canvas, ready for the image to emerge.
Today I’ll re-create a scene or castle
or perhaps a medieval doorway I’ve discovered.
Scenes from the past, echoes of another time.

Stories resting quietly just below
the surface, waiting to be told with the brilliant
colors of oil. Or written out,
a painting of written words. Words to accompany
the oils as notes on a page to the musician.

My tale will rest on top of the stories
of men, builders with rock and stone and cast iron.
Monuments left behind to remind us
of triumphs and sorrows of those who loved, lived
and left behind their eternal imprint.

Impressions for me to research, to learn,
to seek, to know their stories are the same as mine.
Heavy, thick, large oaken doors
with black cast iron hardware closing with echoes
bellowing down the stone laden halls.

Announcing that I am here to uncover
the secrets of the past. Though I feel the deep-rooted
emotions vibrating into every room
I stand in ready to absorb. My promise is to enlighten
those that care, but I know…..

the only difference of then and now are the accessories.

Reading Biographies

If you are reading biographies of writers it is so much better if you read their writings and vice versa. Reading the work pulls you in, reading the biography leads you to where the works originated and festered and came out on paper in the form of a story.

Since I’ve learned that, I’ve applied it to reading the biographies of artists. Now that I’m reading the biography of John Singer Sargent I’ve laid out five books that contain pictures of some of his paintings on the table next to where I sit. Unfortunately the same paintings are repeated in a couple of the books. It’s a pity they couldn’t have chosen others from the 3000 plus canvases he painted. I lay the books open to the pages where his paintings are featured. It makes a difference. As I read the background of how the painting came to be, I look at the pictures and it pulls everything together. It’s like getting to know someone inside out.