A LETTER to a friend

April 27, 2006

Dear Friend,

It's just occurred to me that like us, what my mother had was blepharitis. She was complaining about her eyes tearing all the time especially the right one and she had a painful nerve situation as well.

Except for non crippling osteo-arthritis, she was an active seventy five year-old who chose to have a blepharectomy if that is what it was called, while we were out of town between xmas and new years as teachers do when take their vacations

.In December 1969 we went to the california desert came back new years eve and planned to go see her in the hospital the next morning. WHICH WE DID. but sooner than we had expected.

Sometime around eight-fifteen a nurse called and told us "you better come. She's real bad" and by the time we crossed town and got there she was dead. It wasn't the blepharectomy that killed her, but a pulmonary embolism caused by the anesthetic and lying around for five days.

This thing couldn't happen now because older people's legs are bound and they are gotten up and walked the same day, and sometimes even sent home. You reminded me when you said you were considering having the surgery, and gave a name to what she had. I'd always called it "tear duct or eyelid surgery". . . . so ironic to die from that.

I've not quite understood what the benefit was. I still don't.

I've just done the hot compress treatment which does help, when I remember to do it. . so I don't know if this story helps you decide . . .it's made a lasting impression on me I avoid all unnecessary surgery which is why I never had a hip replacement in 1980. Something which would have changed my life completely

abstraction --a naughty word to some

A good friend on line really liked an old self portrait I offered in our art discussion and went to great lengths to tell me how she didn't like my abstractions, apologetic to the end. I know that the area requires aome special background in order to understand what's happening and some folks even get angry over it. " a chimpanzi could do better", so I'll give you all a taste of my long ago experience in oil painting . . .ME about forty years ago. She really liked that so maybe you will too.

Franz (Fritz) Kline . . . powerful Art

When I first saw his work, reproduced small in magazines and books, I wondered what all the fuss was about. . .just some black lines crisscrossing this way and that way.

When I visited the university gallery at Berkley and entered a room dominated by that work. . .wall sized, I was blown away. As an artist myself I never thought about size being so much part of the message. This painting was indeed expressive, painted on canvus attached to the wall with house paint and big brushes, the media was part of the message.

Recently a knowedgeable friend compared the blue painting you see below with his work because of the angles and general composition. I went to Google for an example and found a poster of this. the black lines meant something archetectural to me but then also when I analized it something more. see the copy with the red lines showing angles and rectangles. . only a beginning of a proper analysis, but this work is very carefully constructed and CLEVER.




in the end I took off on it and did this. very much me but with an under painting of his structure. . . .

Making Art . . .is what I do

Since my principal interest is in making art, I think I'll take a little time out from politics to show you some of it. It's still on the easel because I haven't removed the staples yet. Here I tacked a piece of Rivas grey print paper to my favorite messy board, sponged it with water on a paper towel, and attacked with paynes grey acrylic paint, the only color I used for this and a large brush, .

It all happened in less than an hour as some of them do and I knew enough this time to leave it alone. There was a minor touchup period of about ten minutes after it dried, but otherwise I let these strange faces have their say.

No I didn't plan for them or draw them, they simple grew on their own. This happens all the time. It must mean something but so far I've no Idea what . . . As I recall, I started out with a vision of a city, of buildings and a winding road and that isn't what happened although the verticals can be indicative of buildings and there is a road-like feature on the right side. I just never know how it will turn out and I think that happens with other artists as well. It's this mystery which enchants me.