2 May 2020. Drawing, Writing.
Well, the drawing comes first. But is that true? The kernel of something can be in the memory--and in fact, the memory then becomes a part of the drawing. So why try to sort it all out so carefully, when what's happening is almost always more of a give and take. Which is one reason I've struggled with attempts at giving this project a name--much less a description. Yes, Time and Around will keep everyone at bay (not the right image--they're not wolves!) or maybe just provide me with an umbrella to continue. A tent--as in the big tent. But at the same time, it feels that I should be able to state more directly what I'm doing. Realizing now, of course, that stating is in the doing itself.
So, here I am at the table by the window. Perhaps the Black Tea Window (from March 24) says it better--leaves out the insistent I. But on the other hand, it was fun to use the machine in front of me (set on Facetime) as a kind of mirror--so that I could see the shape of my hand holding the pencil. Always hard to figure that out without a model! And suddenly, voilá--I see it. And just enough to make me forget about all these name cares! The shoulders are a bit hunched--that's from the distortion on the screen, too--and the head I'd drawn largely before looking. so it's a combination, in any case, and in that sense true...
The smaller figure, next to the tree, comes from many years ago. In the middle of Berkeley, a breakfast place on Shattuck, near University. I enjoyed starting the morning there, before heading to the studio in Oakland. The owner was a Persian man--we had a kind of friendship, developed over the year or two I was in attendance. And in fact, when I'd get up to leave (after the fourth cup of coffee) he'd walk out with me, and offer this gesture there on the sidewalk--both arms up in the air over his head, a farewell. Said that's how they did it at home... There was an expression that went with it, I think... but what I remember now is the gesture.
The place (the building still there, no doubt) was called The Terminal Inn. I liked that, too...
