Magic Moves Side to Side

"Magic Moves Side to Side" - acrylic on wood panel (baltic birch, uncradled) 24" x 24" x .5".  Ready to hang (back has been pre-wired for hanging).  Available here and at Artfinder.

Gravity moves up and down
magic side to side.
 - Alicia Jo Rabins, Fruit Geode

A day wandering through the trees atop an extinct volcano here in Portland left primordial daydreams in my head.  The towering pines, laden with birdsong and bee swarms, needed only a misty covering and the thundering of giant reptilian footsteps to transport us to the time of volcanic activity.  

The world "out there" seems in a hurry to resume and inundate with busyness again. Yet  I am still gathering moments of stillness.  I want to drag my feet in protest. 

Magic Moves Side to Side

This same stillness is oppressive to my newly graduated son, recently returned home from university with his life put on pause just at the moment his momentum was mounting.  His feet ache to race forward, even as mine are stubbornly dragging.  Sometimes our feet all stop their nonsense and meet in the kitchen for conversation and coffee.  

The planets we strained to reach
That was how being young tasted...
​I am no longer young except to those who are older
​In the way that youth moves along 
The conveyor belt
At a consistent distance
- Alicia Jo Rabins, Fruit Geode

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About the painting:  beginning with a greyscale composition, then adding thick layers of acrylic paint directly onto the board and blending with an extra large brush.  Spray bottle and water.  Then more paint and a fluffy dry-brushing.  This one nearly  painted itself - the paint knew just where it wanted to go.