My last posting told of hanging my art in the gallery at OWL. My first body of work since retiring. The show is almost over! Has it really been a month? Already?? Memories of the opening reception are fresh in my mind and heart. The support and encouragement from so many friends and loved ones just blew me away. Tomorrow the paintings come down from those walls.
Some will come back home to racks Woody built. The NFS ones return to their rightful owners. (Thank you all for letting me borrow them back for the show.) Still others will be picked up at the library by folks who bought them there. I love knowing where some of them are going. It's part of me going out into the world. Kind of like "cutting the apron strings"....if you ask me.
This morning I had the pleasure of spending about an hour in the gallery with my brother.
He had driven all the way from Shelbourne Falls, MA to see my work. He silently moved from painting to painting, first backing up then moving in for a closer look. He asked lots of questions; " In what order did these three distinct styles unfold?" "Did this one come from your sketchbook?" He made unique observations; " These two show expectancy and nuturing." "This makes me wonder about all the common folk we almost never see in nativity scenes." As we were leaving he said, "You produced quite a body of work in two years." "These are really beautiful."
This little sister's heart was remembering her childhood big brother. How she idolized him. And all these years later, it still really mattered what he thought. How proud I am of this well respected and nationally known educator, sought after speaker, workshop facilitator, and published author many times over. Imagine what it meant to hear him say, "You have a lot to be proud of, Claude."
Years ago (maybe 40) my brother gave me a huge book about Marc Chagall, my first favorite artist, whose work I still adore. Inside the cover he wrote this excerpt, " Never lock away your art, lest your love be locked away with it."
Those words have never been more poignant. Color Unchained. Something inside me has been also unlocked. You always knew it was there big brother. I love you Chip.
P.S. He bought my painting called One Anothering. Which does not surprise me one bit!
