Go to the Mountain

"Go to the Mountain" (a diptych) - charcoal and acrylic on unprimed wood panel, 22" x 14" x .1.5".  Ready to hang (sides are painted; no need to frame.  Hanging wire attached)  Part of the collection "A View from the Gorge".  Available for a limited time exclusively at Get the Gallery.


Go to the pine if you want to learn about the pine, or to the bamboo if you want to learn about the bamboo.  And in doing so, you must let go of your preoccupation with yourself.  Otherwise you impose yourself on the object and don’t learn.

-Basho, Japanese poet, 1600’s

Well, Basho, that's not as easy as you make it sound.  Let go of preoccupation with self?  Wait, isn't EVERYTHING about me?

Go the the Mountain

I jest, but only lightly.  

These many hikes deep into the gorge, even standing at the top of a mountain gobsmacked by the views, I contemplate what it means about me.  It is human nature, I think, to examine everything in relation to ourselves and our own lives.  Initially, the mountain meant I was getting stronger, my spine was healing, my willingness to be cold, wet, muddy, tired, hungry and uncomfortable was growing.  These are all good things, but still, all about me.

After a while, the hikes became an exercise in how long two (or more) humans can slog through extreme conditions over many miles and still enjoy each other's company, or tolerate silence, or maintain conversation.  (The answer is: it's easy if you're of like minds)  But it still wasn't about the mountain.

But recently, on hike with extreme wind and some challenging mud and cold, it became more about the mountain.  The mountain and  its unyieldingly treacherous face.  The mountain and its stony, jagged skin and sinewy fingers at its windswept summit.  The mountain and its voice in burbling streams and thundering waterfalls.  The mountain and its behemoth body, both sheltering from wind and blocking the warmth of the sun. 

Perhaps I am, finally, learning...

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About the art:  the end of a hike found me in Hood River exploring a small gallery in which there were a number of charcoal drawings on bare wood.  Intrigued, I had to run to the studio and grab the charcoal and a wood panel.  I added a limited palette of acrylic paint to the base drawing with a palette knife, fingers and a paper towel.  Once dry, the entire piece was sprayed with a sealer to protect the exposed charcoal.  I really like the effect, so will be exploring this again.