Late nineteen nineties; I was inspired by old sheet music (Shuffle Off To Buffalo and The Continental) to do a dance theme. My sister had sent me the wonderful Asian stick puppet and I still had the wind-up monkey with mouse from my childhood (I do have a hard time giving things up). Equally inspiring was the torn piece of 300 lb. watercolor paper...
An internet acquaintance saw it, and this is what he wrote: ~ I found myself wanting to make up stories about what appears to me to be going on in the work. One thing that keeps coming back to me for some reason is an imagined, childish-taunting/adult-bickering dialogue between the puppet and the monkey (BTW, my initial reaction was that CS would look fabulous as an original piece in my daughter's bedroom, and the colors and compositional elements suggested childhood to me. Can we talk? ;-)), which we hear in progress:
P: "I'm taller than you, so I can see further." M: "At least I didn't let that maitre d' manipulate me."
P: "Did I hear a noise? Oh, it's just you and your cymbal-ism." M: "Sure, make jokes; I'm trying to get the waiter's attention dear..."
P: "C'mon; let's dance; the band's fabulous!" M: "Don't get me wound up..."
P: "It's certainly crowded here tonight. Ouch! Who just kicked me in the derriére?" M: "I don't know , but I'm gonna find out..."
P: "Look, there's an empty table, right over there... What're you looking at?" M: "Why are all these people staring at us?"
P: "Shhhh! Maybe if we don't look at them, they'll go away!" M: " Maybe if they keep looking, you'll go away!"
P: " Are you saying you don't love me anymore?" M: Cha-ching!
Oddly cruel; very Punch'n'Judy. Perhaps the darker colors suggest (to me) storms in the midst of gaiety; I've witnessed private spats like this, carried on in underground mutterings beneath public smiles in public places.
But I still like your work.;-) ~ He did buy it and, as far as I know, it is still in his collection or his daughters.
Late nineteen nineties; I was inspired by old sheet music (Shuffle Off To Buffalo and The Continental) to do a dance theme. My sister had sent me the wonderful Asian stick puppet and I still had the wind-up monkey with mouse from my childhood (I do have a hard time giving things up). Equally inspiring was the torn piece of 300 lb. watercolor paper...
ReplyDeleteAn internet acquaintance saw it, and this is what he wrote:
ReplyDelete~
I found myself wanting to make up stories about what appears to me to be going on in the work. One thing that keeps coming back to me for some reason is an imagined, childish-taunting/adult-bickering dialogue between the puppet and the monkey (BTW, my initial reaction was that CS would look fabulous as an original piece in my daughter's bedroom, and the colors and compositional elements suggested childhood to me. Can we talk? ;-)), which we hear in progress:
P: "I'm taller than you, so I can see further."
M: "At least I didn't let that maitre d' manipulate me."
P: "Did I hear a noise? Oh, it's just you and your cymbal-ism."
M: "Sure, make jokes; I'm trying to get the waiter's attention dear..."
P: "C'mon; let's dance; the band's fabulous!"
M: "Don't get me wound up..."
P: "It's certainly crowded here tonight. Ouch! Who just kicked me in the derriére?"
M: "I don't know , but I'm gonna find out..."
P: "Look, there's an empty table, right over there... What're you looking at?"
M: "Why are all these people staring at us?"
P: "Shhhh! Maybe if we don't look at them, they'll go away!"
M: " Maybe if they keep looking, you'll go away!"
P: " Are you saying you don't love me anymore?"
M: Cha-ching!
Oddly cruel; very Punch'n'Judy. Perhaps the darker colors suggest (to me) storms in the midst of gaiety; I've witnessed private spats like this, carried on in underground mutterings beneath public smiles in public places.
But I still like your work.;-)
~
He did buy it and, as far as I know, it is still in his collection or his daughters.