Listening - watching
taking a moment
drawing the world
finding the way to connection
again and again.

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Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Some things I saw in Prague

Last month Steve Gorn and I visited this wonderful city.
We taught and performed with our artist friends Rena Milgrom and Hearn Gadbois.
After our lively arts offerings were over I had a day to collect images
before heading home.

I made quick sketches from the moving trams
and took some photos on the run.
Other things I drew from memory.

Here is some of what I noticed . . .

 
 


The Old Jewish Cemetery
We plan to visit on Saturday, but when we get there it is closed.

Created in the 15th century there are now over 12,000 graves inside the walls,
possibly far more because it was repeatedly covered with new layers of soil.



As I paint I wonder - why do I this ?
Why not just take photos and send along ?

I recall the irritated guard at the cave in India asking me, "Don't you have a camera?"

Spending the time translating these moments onto the page
I sense the slowing down. There is also an empty feeling that is uncomfortable,
and a not knowing why I continue to offer myself to the world in this way.

I am taking in an experience -
transforming it into a narrative of images with a beginning, middle and end -
making something whole with my life . . .
and sending it out, once again, on the wind.



6 comments:

  1. Do you ever draw from photos? Drawing is a completely different media so keep it up as long as you like. Now I have to scroll down to prove I'm not a robot. See ya. PH

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  2. Hi Phyllis -
    I did take some photos here because time was short - and I referred to them as I drew.
    More fun to do the drawing from "life" but not always possible under the circumstances !

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  3. As a viewer, I somehow feel closer to a drawn work, part of the warmth of the person drawing lingers. Thanks for sharing your warmth on a Winter day. ;--)

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  4. thanks for saying it like this - the sense of the person's warmth coming through in a drawing. . . nice !

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  5. Your process feels much more intimate than most photography. You've taken the time to come into a relationship with what you saw and experienced. A very different impression from a snapshot. I see the detail of the face on the wall and the baby climbing the column and for a moment, sense a connection both with the object and the artist generous enough to share her vision.

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  6. thank you Jim - what a rich and nuanced comment. Very appreciated!

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