The Distraction
I have some random projects purposefully left undone, lying around my studio, sometimes for years. I’m in no hurry to complete them. I know it goes against conventional wisdom, but these, by design, are meant to distract me. These projects help me pull away, step aside and refresh. This is the equivalent of the sage call to ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest for a while’.
The Story
I recently completed one of these projects. When I was young, my grandparents had a small farm in very rural Kentucky. The best feature of Papaw and Granny’s farmhouse was the small room at the top of the stairs. Behind that dark door was my grandfather’s ‘man room.’ All his ‘stuff’ was in there on display - his meager gun rack, hanging on the wall above the old iron daybed; his fishing poles; his flint arrow heads he had collected while turning the soil in his fields. The shelves held his retired pipes and an unopened bottle of ‘Rebel Yell’ whiskey. The room smelled like warm pipe tobacco, and the morning sun shone directly into that room on all his ‘treasures,’ filling it with golden light. Magic.
Most interesting to us boys were the two antique glass floor cases. These held his ‘animals,’ - a couple of foxes; various birds; and hidden back on the right hand side, in the leaves that lay scattered on the bottom of the cases, a coiled snake only partially exposed. We would sit on the day bed, opposite that case and just stare at it, trying to convince ourselves that the snake wasn’t somehow alive and it didn’t really move. No. It couldn’t have. Could it???
The Design
So with that etched in my mind, what other subject could I have chosen to paint? Gourd painting is a time-honored folk art tradition in my home state. Now, with passing the gourd and this story down to my children, perhaps, they will tell their children, about their great-great grandfather’s ‘treasure room’ and the snake in the leaves. This holiday season, schedule in a ‘distraction.’ Pass a story down to your children and grand children. It will be treasured in years to come.
Happy Thanksgiving!