HDT Vision
The title of the new painting is HDT Vision. It’s a late day autumn view of Walden Pond from a few years ago. Now you know what HDT means. It turned out that the image looks equally pleasing when inverted, if you can tolerate gravel falling out of the “sky”. I’m always attracted by ambiguity and the possibility of alternative interpretations. Having cloud reflections floating on the water surface with the pond bottom peaking through and no direct view of the land-sky interface adds to the mystery of what’s going on. I also apparently I have a predilection for blue streaks, as this painting, several past ones, and some planned future ones highlight prominent, intense, blue features.
I confess that I thought HDT Vision stood for something like HDR (high dynamic range) for cameras. I did not note right away that the connection is obvious—Henry David Thoreau. Ah me, what all the acronyms that are now everyday speech have done to my thinking.
I’ve looked at your post several times. I enjoy thinking about being at Walden Pond and seeing this image. The streaks of blue are another plus for me. I gravitate towards blue whenever I see it.
I’ll add one more personal reflection. My father made a movie in the 1950s called Massachusetts Revisited. It showed what famous places look and sound like in the modern world. We drove around a traffic circle (camera aimed forward) with a cantering horse in the soundtrack to show Paul Revere’s Ride. The image of Walden Pond is a beach scene (really at Walden’s Pond) with a lifeguard and a mass of screaming children. My friends and I were the performers for the sound track. I still remember gathering on our lawn in Rochester and being asked to “scream your heads off.” As my father said, “Poor Mr. Thoreau.”
Thanks for sharing your HDT Vision. It created all sorts of questions and memories for me.
Susan. I’m glad the painting brought back some good memories. That’s a great personal story.
The title was also intentionally ambiguous. HDTV (high definition television) was also the inspiration for the HDT Vision play on words.
When we were there we also saw Thoreau’s cabin. It was disappointing to find out that although he spent some time living there, apparently he often returned to the nearby house of his parents…..nothing like a home-cooked meal and help with the laundry?
This is such an interesting image: for me, it toggles constantly between entirely abstract and utterly realistic, and both are compelling. It is anchored at both top and bottom, though: by reflected trees at the top and what I think must be pebbles underwater at the bottom, and I do not tire of travelling over the scene again and again.
I love the blueness and clouds floating out of the earth tones. It makes me feel upside down and IN THERE is the presence of sky on earth.