8.12.2014

"Hurrying" into the world

Sometime in the spring of 1969 "Hurrying" made its début in a local arts festival, sponsored by the same organization that ran my kindergarden. Started in 1967, the festival is still going strong and held its 48th annual event in the spring of 2014. According to their website, the original festival presented the first juried art competition in central Louisiana. Of course, to get in the show it didn't hurt that I knew some people on the inside. Always the case, right?

The story my mother told me when I was little was that during the festival someone made an offer to buy "Hurrying". I don't know if the prospective buyer was serious, it doesn't matter, my parents weren't selling; but the offer seemed to give the painting some kind of elevated status in our eyes. It had value!

The following Christmas morning I awoke to find the painting in a thin light-yellow frame with a white mat; hung in a place of prominence in our well trafficked den. I was very happy and proud of the success and attention; but mostly I liked seeing the painting every day for reasons I couldn't express but I think you can understand from knowing my emotional ties to the work.

A work of art has the capacity to evoke far beyond subject matter and materials. The daily imprinting of my feelings on "Hurrying" and the evolving memories formed by living with it have informed my relationship to art. This early experience impressed upon me the power of the personal creative object.

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