Because Part II
I remembered an old photograph that depicts us in an earlier time. In 1977 we held our first born girl. We had no idea what life had in store for us. That is a metaphor to be taken seriously but not literally. It Is not as if there was any predetermined path, which is just the point. Our future in 1977 was open and undefined; ours to be created, and co-created with the aid of others that by chance we would meet along the way. And can never forget the constraints of circumstance, money, opportunity, and personal history.
Life is nothing less than a palate of color, or a pile of clay on a spinning wheel. You and I are painters who wake up to our obligation to create a magnum opus. We are given one life and one opportunity to make it a great work. We must learn how to paint, or to use a throwing-clay metaphor, how to work wet clay on the wheel, to end up with that great work, many years later. Life is the reverse of school. In life one takes the test first, and then one learns the lesson. Then repeat again; lots of trial and error, improvisation.
If; the big “if” comes down to dumb luck. Some did not have as much time as we have had for their work, their one life. Good health, the cooperation of genetic inheritance is crucial. Access to good medical care can make a difference. Also, misfortune, accident can bring the curtain down. No words can alleviate the tragedy of the onset of a chronic disease, or of a crippling accident. I think the old Romans were wiser than we when they built altars to the goddess Fortuna.
We visited a gallery in Waukegan yesterday, The ARTPIE STUDIO and gallery. James the Studio proprietor was engaged with several neighborhood kids in the midst of an art class when we arrived. We mindfully examined the work displayed on the walls. I was moved by the depiction of human eyes in the work of more than one artist. The eyes continue to speak of the layered depths of every human being, the unfinished animal. One digital mural-like work, with several connected panels, vivid with color, depicted several pairs of eyes juxtaposed with vistas of nature. The piece even depicted the subterranean life of the soil. I was transfixed by the sensation that arose with the viewing.
After a while we spent some time learning from James about his studio space, and swapping stories about our lives, and where the journey has taken us. The time spent was especially satisfying to me because our daughter and her partner were with us. Both of them are artists.
