“Joy Unspeakable” (36” x 24”)
Every now and then, when the mood is right, Joy and I take a break from painting at our art studio and head up to the Blue Ridge Parkway (usually heading south from Asheville) and just explore, pulling the car over to gawk at the view when the view demands it. And when conditions are “just right”, we’ll pull out our dinner, a bottle of wine, and Pims (you have to have Pims) and enjoy the exquisite company of God, nature, wind, clouds and sun.
“Joy Unspeakable” was inspired by multiple excursions like this and it depicts my very favorite time of day, that time between day and night when the earth seems to let out an almost audible sigh of contentment. This is sacred. This is a moment to savor because it lasts just a minute or two and then it’s gone, as night steals the magic away. But for those magical moments, it’s like you’re back in Eden and all is as it should be. Now is the time for stillness, and contemplation (AND PAINTING).
The Road and the End
BY CARL SANDBURG
I shall foot it
Down the roadway in the dusk,
Where shapes of hunger wander
And the fugitives of pain go by.
I shall foot it
In the silence of the morning,
See the night slur into dawn,
Hear the slow great winds arise
Where tall trees flank the way
And shoulder toward the sky.
The broken boulders by the road
Shall not commemorate my ruin.
Regret shall be the gravel under foot.
I shall watch for
Slim birds swift of wing
That go where wind and ranks of thunder
Drive the wild processionals of rain.
The dust of the travelled road
Shall touch my hands and face.
