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Someday You

"Someday You" - acrylic, charcoal and oil pastel on cradled wood panel, 8" x 8" x .75".  Ready to hang (sides are painted; no need to frame.  Hanging wire is attached).  Available here and at Artfinder.


Someday you,
what is left of you,
will be flensed of this marriage.

Angular wristbone's arthritis,
cracked harp of ribcage,
blunt of heel,
opened bowl of the skull,
twin platters of pelvis--
each of you will leave me behind,
at last serene.
​
- from "My Skeleton" by Jane Hirshfield
I'm like a dog with a bone.

Or rather, my dog with my bones.  Which he was, while I was off hiking.  He climbed up on the table, grabbed a few choice pieces (bird pelvis, elk hoof, deer femur, vertebrae) and had himself a feast while I was away.  Sigh.  I can't blame him.  It was there.

Things come and things go.  

And Hirshfield's words, as I contemplate bone and legacy and life, are a perfect fit.  

​
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the artist learning to see

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About the art:  inspired by a deer pelvis found by my partner on one of our hikes, this painting used a notanized bone photo (left) as a jumping off point for an abstract.  The organic shapes, curves and hard lines of  form and shadow hint at, but do not tell, the whole story when combined and colored and texturized, allowing the viewer to fill in and interpret.

The requisite 80 million layers of paint, applied with brush and fingers, transformed with water and squeegee and paper towel.  Finished with a hint of charcoal and vibrant oil pastel.



​A little lovely surprise this week, as my witchy and wonderful "Adelaide" was featured in an article for children's book authors at The Charmed Studio.  Check it out!  Thea's blog is OUTRAGEOUSLY good!
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6 Comments
Carl Stoveland - 5 years ago
I’m stuck by the painting. It is lovely. I really like that the inspiration also gave new meaning to the skeletal remains and added to its journey as much as it added to yours. Nothing in the universe is meant to be wasted I think.

Carl
jen - 5 years ago
Carl! Thanks, friend. And yes, the remains took on a whole new life again by inspiring something that wasn't there before - this painting!!
Thea - 5 years ago
What a moving poem you included. Thank you for introducing me to Hirshfield's work. I have not read her poems before today. I love that she is contemplating her own skeleton over her lifetime. Isn't there a buddhist practice of contemplating your own death daily? Big picture thinking right? It sure puts the little dramas of our daily place in their place-on the sidelines.
Thanks so much for the shout out to my blog as well. Kind of you.
Thea
jen - 5 years ago
Thea! I am so excited to introduce you to Hirshfield! I believe she may actually be a Buddhist, so perhaps her poetry is part of that practice? And yes, big picture thinking puts the brakes on some of that daily drama.

Your blog is AMAZEBALLS and I am SO excited to visit and revisit its wonder!
Dotty Seiter - 5 years ago
I'm like a dog with a bone.

Or rather, MY DOG with MY BONES.

!

Worth the price of admission right there!

---

Things come and things go. Yes. Yes, they do.

Jen, I am drawn to the strong shape and implicit—but decidedly not stated—story of Someday You.

And what fun that while Wonder Mike was chomping on bones Adelaide was off playing with Thea at The Charmed Studio! I'm about to visit Adelaide and Thea right now : )
jen - 5 years ago
Dotty! ha ha! Indeed. My dog with my bones. As the wicked witch once said, "what a world, what a world".

Enjoy The Charmed Studio! I think it is a gem. Adelaide is delighted to hang out there!

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Lola Jovan

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