The Summons
Combing through my “stacks” recently, I came across this painting, and found it worth revisiting. It was done in 2005 yet it resonates with the spirit of today. Early one Sunday morning at Stewart Park two little girls and their grandfather were engulfed in a cloud of gulls as they flung bread soaked in water high in the air. It reminds me of a time of freedom to go about as our whims took us and mingle with others without fear.
oil on canvas, 18″ x 24″, currently not for sale.
The gestures of the gulls and the girl suggest “flight” – arms outstretched, wings outstretched. I have always thought gulls (and ducks, geese) are the most special of species because they can walk on land, fly through the air, or swim through water – just as humans “learn” to do… There is a youthful yearning to be free in this painting – and as you say, that’s exactly how we all feel now. When I look at this image of your painting, I hear the bird calls, the flapping of wings and maybe the giggle of this young woman. The blue overcast creates a sense of twilight, or more optimistically, a dawning. When an image can be read in such multiple ways, it is sure to communicate in an open, metaphoric way.
I certainly like what you can hear in this painting. I love those sounds. These are in some ways the most powerful of the birds, maybe it is just brashness, but Gulls and geese, and to a lesser degree ducks, cannot hide, they are exposed to humans. They dare to saunter and strut, scream and honk at us, while other birds hide in leaves, or soar overhead, far out of reach. Sometimes I think this girl is reveling in her power to call these proud and wild creatures to her, and how children need opportunities to experience their power as it unfolds.
I love it! The little girl is a free dancer (almost a bird) and the sea gulls are people arguing about whether or not to wear masks.
heh, heh, they might as well be arguing about whether or not to wear socks!
I see big connections with this piece and your recent figurative work – all telling compelling stories. Here the young girl appears on the verge of takIng flight.
yes, interesting that you should notice that. I considered myself a landscape-devoid-of-people painter, but when I go back into the “stacks” and review some older paintings, I see lots of stories – landscapes, and cityscapes with people in them – scenes that I observed in the world. It was only a small step away from that to get to these surrealist paintings that I paint from visualizations in my mind’s eye. It is funny how what we think about ourselves can be so far from the reality of who we are and what we have done.
Beautiful Diana!
Thank you, Ethel.