Odysseuse on the Move

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Christmases Three

Christmas Eve 1925 - Sidney, New York

A three-year-old is at a window, looking up into the night sky, watching for Santa. Her father suggests that he and she go for a ride in their new Franklin, the better to look for Santa. The child has a secret wish so sincere that she will not share it. She wants a little Victorola all her own and she knows that Santa will grant that wish. Mother will stay home affixing small candles to their Christmas tree. Outdoors, there is no sign of Santa, so he must have come invisibly, certainly. Indoors, the tree is beautiful. Dozens of candles are reflected in multicolored glass baubles. On the sofa there is a Teddy Bear, all brown plush fur, almost as large as the child. His eyes are bright and his arms are extended to her for a hug. No time for a hug. The search is on for the little Victorola she knows must be hidden somewhere. Eventually she realizes there is no Victorola and is greatly disappointed. There is only Teddy.

Christmas Eve 1930 - Chicago, Illinois

The little girl, now eight years old, has had baby dolls given her the last few Christmases. None of the dolls are particularly interesting - the paper dolls she has created are her favorite playthings. She would still like to have her own Victorola, but that wish will soon be forgotten. Teddy Bear still sits, lonely. This Christmas Eve she is given a new doll: Patsy Ann, who is so much like the little girl herself that she feels she has found a friend. There is an old superstition that at midnight on Christmas Eve toys will come alive. Patsy Ann and Teddy Bear are much the same size. The child places them side by side on the sofa and positions them in a certain way so that she can tell on Christmas morning if they have moved. The two toys have found each other and will never again be far apart.

Christmas Eve 2006 - Kalamazoo, Michigan

A few years ago, after the death of her mother, the little girl now grown old, found Patsy Ann in pieces which had been carefully placed by her mother in a shoebox for safe keeping. Patsy Ann needed only a short stay at a Doll Hospital to be put together good as new except for a few worn places on her arms and hands. Teddy Bear had always been nearby and had been repaired with a patch on one arm. His fur is thin in places and he has lost his "voice" but he is still huggable and his eyes still twinkle. Patsy Ann has acquired a new wardrobe, in keeping with the times. Teddy Bear has his own chair. The two are always together - and are beloved.

This is how they look today!

Patsy Ann and Teddy Bear

Merry Christmas, and may all of you have precious memories of toys once beloved.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

The Straight Line!

"I can't draw a straight line!" This plaint is often heard when excuses are being made for not attempting to draw or to paint. Actually, it is not necessary to be able to draw a straight line, freehand - it is permissible to use a ruler. There are other matters to consider.

From a piece written after pondering what it takes to be a creative artist, here are some thoughts. In order to be a successful artist, one must resist outside influences and trends, past and current. Be stubborn, repeating to oneself, "This is the way I see it, the way I imagine it, the way I will do it." This is not to say one can, or should, reject technique. Technique is essential - proven technique, that is, or technique which has been proven effective by experiment and usage. What is technique? It is the tool which permits the artist to express originality successfully.

One thinks of Da Vinci's failed experiments in painting media - what masterworks were lost or flawed because of incorrect guessing about what works with pigments: chemical changes that were ruinous. Experimentation is good, confined to the equivalent of sketching; only after the experiment is proven to be successful and enduring should it be applied in one's major works.

Appreciate, but do not copy, what is seen of another's oeuvre. Say "I see how that works" and then store that knowledge, bringing it out and using it when it is relevant to an original work or design.

You can draw a straight line: Go for it!

Thursday, December 01, 2005

The Reverberant Chalk

Reverberation an effect or impact that resembles an echo

There are certain matters that remain subjects for conjecture, and which may be discussed in a Philosophy classroom or in a Physics lab. In either discipline there are no firm answers, but the questions remain forever. One example is that of the tree falling in a forest far from habitation; the unanswered question is whether or not it makes a noise on impact. The answers are many and varied and are staunchly defended, pro or con.

In a certain classroom, the Professor held up his piece of chalk and shook it. He maintained that when he did so, the entire universe reacted to that movement. What about the billions and billions of different actions: do all of them cause reactions in the universe? On a subatomic level? Photons? String theory? What do you think?

An anonymous poet voiced his or her opinion thus:

All things both near and far by almighty power
Hiddenly to each other connected are;
Thou canst not disturb a flower
Without the troubling of a star.