January 24
When I arrived home last night, this beauty was lying next to my doorstep. A herd lives at Fort Worden. At night, they take the shapes of sphinxes in the shadows. In ancient Egypt, the sphinx was a spiritual guardian—royal and sacred. It is so special to watch them move across the campus during the day and to know they are watching over us at night.
It’s Friday. Time to put away the paints and start packing. I decided to take one more adventure. I wanted to find one more sea stack at the water’s edge. I find them magical!! Standing in their presence, they feel like nature’s wisdom keepers
Minnie the Mouse and I headed west for the 1.5 hour trip.. Once you get away from the coast, the landscape changes into dark shadows across the highway— miles of dense forest on the edge of Olympic National Park. I pulled into the parking lot, walked around a bend and my jaw dropped. Here are a few pictures from the beach and the Campground area. And, as with every other sacred place I have visited, the US had defense presence, Camp Hayden at this location during WWII.
Salt Creek Beach, Crescent Bay. The Klallam people—The Strong People— have lived in this area for thousands of years.
Tongue Point, a marine life sanctuary on Strait of Juan du Fuca
And to end on a more modern note - a painted wall on a US bunker from Camp Hayden. Built in 1941, abandoned several years later.
Came home and made these two little wall objects. Obviously, the colors of the day played a role in my decisions.
And my sketch. These little drawings are companions.
January 25
I just finished reading Han Kang’s book, “Greek Lesson.” There is a passage – two students are discussing Plato’s writings on beauty:
People who, though they believe in beautiful objects, do not believe in beauty itself. Plato deemed such people to be in a state of dreaming and was convinced that one could be persuaded that this was the case through reasoning. In his world, everything was upside down like this. That is to say, he considered that he himself was awake and not dreaming. He who, rather than trusting in the beautiful objects of reality, trusted only in an absolute beauty that cannot exit in reality.
I have had fun chewing on this text for a few days. In the back in my mind, I remember reading that Plato - paraphrasing here - believed that beauty was always moving and teetering. I am a student of that concept.
Doing a little diving on Google — our modern day Library of Alexandria —there are three Greek translations for the English word, beautiful: 1) beauty 2) noble and 3) difficult. For the Ancient Greeks, these concepts had not been split apart..Something to ponder.
In my gallery days, we represented an artist who painted very realistic landscapes of Virginia. He always painted very small numbers and letters over the canvas. When I asked him about it, he replied : People really think these are landscapes. But in reality, it a flat surface with abstract marks of line,shape and color. I want to remind the viewer that it is all an illusion.
As I pack up my paints, I return to my first post with Canadian painter, Thom Thompson and his quote: The best I can do does not do the place much justice in the way of beauty. I am not a believer that a painting can do justice to nature. And why should an artist even try? But, if partnering with the landscape to learn the formal qualities of painting, I am all in for that exploration.
Now that I am heading back to the East Coast, the “Atlantic Northeast” painter Marsden Hartley (Maine) came to mind. He was a visionary painter in the tradition of Albert Pinkham Ryder.(1847-1917) and was considered one of the forerunners of the Modern Art Movement. Whereas Thompson, born in the same year as Hartley (1877) had a more impressionist/expressionist approach, Hartley chiseled his way through paint—more like a builder of structures— creating a reductive composition. (See below) He spent three years painting this mountain,
Marsden Hartley / Mt. Katahdin, Maine / oil on canvas / 30 ¼ x 40 ¼ inches. Collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art
I will always keep Thom Thompson in my back pocket, but now making room for Marsden Hartley as I venture forward. And I will continue with my little sticks since they serve as a reminder of the power of form.
These have been two great weeks exploring the area, particularly the West Coast. Seeing those sea stacks have turned my head about painting. (I have fallen in love). I want to continue using drawing as a partner with paint, not just an underlying “sketch” for direction. The mark-marking energizes the surface differently than paint. And, OK - I know I am talking action verbs here. But, again, I am hoping the viewer will be the noun. Find the mental state.
