April 18, 2007

The simple things

Katie and I "purchased" a painting at a fundraiser a couple of days ago. It's called "Painting for a White Wall #2 (The Bird)", and it was painted by Eleanor Hutchens in 1978. It's an abstract painting of a bird with amorphous shapes representing (remember, abstractly) various physical characteristics in red, blue, yellow, leaf green, and hunter green that swirl around, more or less, a bird's eye. At first glance, it's a nice, interesting painting, but when I look at it for more than 2 seconds, I lose myself in it. No kidding. My first impression was that the quality of the painting was in the hobbyist realm, but once I got past those first two seconds, I realized I was looking at something much more significant. Not only that, but simple brush strokes that initially appeared simple or even incongruous revealed themselves to be something else entirely. And this happens every time I look at it. It's kind of like when I sit in either of the two blue chairs we have in our living room: every time I sit down in them, it's a special treat. Really, I get goosebumps. I kid you not.

I'll take a picture and post it soon.

2 comments:

Katie B said...

It's true. I'll be walking around doing something in the house, and I'll just find myself standing there, staring at the painting.

Heather said...

Whoa, that's so cool. Can't wait to see a photo of it!