Summer Work: Grave Dancing

I recently attended an intimate dinner theater event, where a friend of mine, Andrew Borne, read some of his poetry. He wrote this poem after reading a lot of Charles Simic’s poems. Simic writes in a very surreal but simple way and he wanted to do something similar. His poem is about finding flowers blooming in everyday events or experiences. Here is the poem:

Blooms have been coming up everywhere

A bed of tulips is rising from the spokes of my bicycle

A field of clovers is emerging from the roof top of my apartment

Several water lilies sit between the bubbles in the baby’s bath water

The hair of my 3 children has turned to pear blossoms

The petals fly from their heads like snow

As they dance in the wind

The backyard grill has sprouted a lilac bush

The aroma has taken over the entire neighborhood

The lavender clusters cover the hot coals

A father’s coffin is pushed open from the force

Of a large magnolia tree in full bloom

As the mourner’s hearts erupt with sorrow, joy

A cross on Golgotha has grown rose buds

The first one is opening from the soldier’s spear wound

The Convict relinquishes His Spirit, a new fruit

The imagery spoke of life growing from unexpected places, including the grave, and one passage really inspired me;
A father’s coffin is pushed open from the force

Of a large magnolia tree in full bloom


A corpse being animated by the roots of a tree. That inspired this pen and ink and watercolor drawing.
I call it "Grave Dance".

That got me to thinking and more drawing. I wanted to do something a little cleaner-looking with two figures who were more obviously dancing. "Grave-Dancing". This one is pen and ink colored digitally in Photoshop.

This led to a general obsession with the juxtaposition of skeletons and life. This next one is called "Crown of Ivy".
Another pen and ink and watercolor.

The next one is a variation on the theme called "Flames of Love". The idea of love totally consuming two people till there is nothing left but the bones. Pen and ink and acrylic.

Then the skeleton-couple idea kicked in. This one came to me as I was lying in bed my wife and our cat one morning. "Skeletal Couple and Cat"

This led to different types of couples. The idea of a human man and a mermaid. "Man and Mermaid".

This led to a final mermaid/man composition, a variation on the skeleton/mermaid idea I called "Tideline".

This one is called "Heartflower".

 

Finishing Up Some Paintings

I have a short attention span. I get very excited about many things, but unless I have a hard deadline or I am getting paid for it, I generally lose interest sometime after the idea has been worked out in a sketch. It is because of this personality flaw that I have several paintings that have sat started, but not finished for 3 or 4 years. That's right, years. Recently I decided I was going to make a concerted effort to actually finish some of these projects. I work as a graphic designer, but i have been setting aside one day (or at least one afternoon) a week, to go to my studio and chip away at the paintings bit by bit. Here they are in order of attack:

 1. Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne

This is more of a painting exercise than a full-blown piece. I have always been a fan of the 1979 PBS adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's  novel, especially the two leads John Heard and Meg Foster.
I decided to do a portrait of them as they appear in the forest. I did a post about another Scarlet-Letter inspired piece back in May( http://georgecouragecreative.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-scarlet-letter.html) This picture might look familiar if you read that post. It is basically a rendering of a still from the movie. One down.

2. Ghost in a graveyard

 Several years ago, my wife had an appointment in Newburyport, MA. I was on my own for an hour or so, and since it was a pleasant early fall evening, and I didn't have any money to go shopping at the local bookstore, I went exploring in a nearby Victoeian-era graveyard. I was the only living person there, and as the sun began to set, I imagined what a great setting it would be for seeing a ghost. I took several photos and began a painting.  Cut to...last week when i finally finished it. Two down.

3. Hammond Castle

This is another piece that has been in the works for several years. A panoramic view of Hammond Castle in Gloucester, MA This one is not quite complete, but I'm chipping away at it. Two to go.

4. Henry Hudson and the Mermaid

This is the oldest painting in the bunch. I probably started it in 2008. The painting of the ship's rigging has proved daunting. Also, originally I had wanted to include a quote from Henry Hudson's log that described the mermaid. Still plugging away on this one too.
One to go.