| There are LOTS of songs about drinking, and in honor of St Patrick’s Day, let me share one of my favorites, “There Stands the Glass.” Webb Pierce had a hit with it back in 1953… and I cannot write that title without hearing his lilting, plaintive voice. Here’s a link to Pierce singing it on the Grand Ole Opry, so maybe it’ll catch in your brain as well. Wanda Jackson did a more smoky, sultry version in 1968 and Wikipedia informs me that nearly a dozen other performers have recorded it over the years. Though it is technically a song about drinking (or preparing to drink), it is also a song about looking and about projecting a future mental state. That first, full glass will “ease my pain” and “settle my brain.” I find the candor of the lyrics almost embarrassingly direct, possibly because I grew up in a household devoid of alcohol, let alone this particular mental state. Yet it strikes me as familiar. There is some similarity between an alcoholic and a working artist. Both have a practice, something done regularly if not daily. The key may be a physical trigger. For me, the smell of the solvent – the allegedly “odorless mineral spirits” – has an effect of settling my brain or at least of helping me settle in to work. For some artists, it’s the smell of pencil shavings or even sense of place, of just being in the studio. I’ve heard that real alcoholics call St Patrick’s Day “amateur hour.” For a working artist, doing the work is not a special occasion; it’s just what we do. I illustrated today’s post with a sketch I painted for this occasion; it’s 6” x 6” oil on panel and like the song, it’s my first one. I have MUCH to learn about adding life, not just detail, to a still life. Even more than this Emerald Isle holiday, I was inspired mostly by the small still life paintings of Neil Carroll. Carroll is a real working artist, who sends out a nearly daily email featuring a new alla prima depiction of the small joys of every day, say, a dish of flowers. My favorites are his depictions of alcohol, a glass of stout or ale in various stages of consumption, or a shot of whisky. They are loose, impressionistic and full of energy. The foam is often a thick dollop of impasto paint. Not unlike the standing glass from the song, Carroll’s alcohol portraits make me thirsty… for paint. What triggers YOU to get into your practice? Or to ask the same question backwards, do alcoholics ever get “alcohol block” like writers get writer’s block? Are there activities that give you pleasure and fulfillment that you inexplicably find difficult to do on a regular basis? What could be the positive intent behind that resistance? P.S. Let me share another favorite song about drinking, Mary Gauthier’s “I Drink.” Read about its backstory at this link. |
| I added three fun items to the on-line store this week; a sticker, a magnet and a button with more designs soon to follow. I think my favorite is the Blue Cicada magnet pictured here. The original painting now hangs in the home of a dear friend, but I think these crunchy little darlings would look great crawling across anyone’s fridge or any metallic appliance. I’ve got two on my car’s gas cap cover. Why wait for 17 years when you can have your own colorful infestation? Check out the “Fire Skull” button and the “Smiling Sabre Tooth” sticker by clicking on my ON-LINE ART STORE . Here’s a tip to Newsletter Subscribers: make a note about your favorite button, sticker or magnet when buying a print or original, and you might find one tucked in with your order. |