I worked on this piece today for my cousin, and subsequently for use in the future. Right before Thanksgiving of this year I went to a memorial service for a dear friend of mine. He was Norwegian. His brother stood behind the podium, telling stories of their childhood, of how his brother was so like their Father in many ways. They were both very proud men and very private. He thought that if maybe they had been able to share their feelings with the ones who loved them, they might have been happier in life. And then he quoted a Swedish saying that I had never heard before. It goes a little something like this: "Sorrow shared is half the sorrow: Joy shared is doubled." This has stayed in my mind since then, and I knew I wanted to do something with it. The "S" was first filled in with water and then color was dropped into it and allowed to fall down the page...as in tears. The rest of "sorrow" was worked in water color crayons, giving a sense of roughness. Sorrow is just that... rough. The words "shared is halved" was first lettered in blue gouache and while still wet, white was dropped in. These two colors are "shared" in each letter.
So, we go from tears and rough times to shared-ness. The little flower gives us a little hope.
(Uncial)
No comments:
Post a Comment