‘Sinister Kid’ Sunset, Wednesday, 4 August 2010

William Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

This was one of the craziest sunsets I can remember. Fifteen minutes earlier we were drowning in a violent thunderstorm and heavy downpours. Just at sunset, with rain and lightning still happening here in the foreground, the horizon lifted. I had a difficult time believing it, much less facing how to handle it.

I needed music. The I-Ching (iPod) was obliging, starting me with Van Morrison’s “Tore Down à la Rimbaud,” which pretty much describes my psychological starting point. Next, “Smoky Places” by The Corsairs – exactly. By the time I was finishing and signing, “Sinister Kid” by The Black Keys was somehow really the signature for the piece, not in a literal way, but better, in the energy.

Then, while wrapping up, it was nice to have Clarence Carter, “Slip Away” ...

Sunset, Tuesday, 3 August 2010

William Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

The sunset really took place, in the sense of saying good-bye to the sun, about ten minutes before the sunset proper, and in such a maze of cloud and color it was enough to make a painter want to sit down and cry. Either that or maybe call in sick.

Sunset, Monday, 2 August 2010

William Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

I Am Not The Onion

Pakistan floods take out Osama bin Laden. U.S. claims responsibility via climate change.

Sunset, Sunday, 1 August 2010

William Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19. 

The sky, resolutely gray, in places even black, took a turn at the last minute, and only for that minute.

Del Ankers, Photographer, Part 3

Today’s the birthday of my uncle Del Ankers, born 1916, died May 2008. You can find previous posts on Del via the tag index, or start with this date last year, and check out Part 1, the predawn view of the Iwo Jima Memorial, and Part 2.

During this past year I was lucky enough to have in my possession for a while Del’s amazing travel bag, or kit bag I guess you could call it, before it goes off, along with most of his prints, films, negatives and notes, to the University of Maryland Library archives.

Laura Owen SutherlandThe baggage tags tied to the top of the bag are just the start – the bag itself is filled with many more. Many carry notations like this one:

Laura Owen SutherlandAs noted elsewhere, Del was the first film maker and photographer to work with Jim Henson, and here he was off for a shoot starring the Muppet character Rowlf.

There is so much crazy variety, with so many suggestions of history and stories, in Del’s bag, like Del himself they seem almost impossible to sum up and properly describe. However, we did find one tag that almost does the job all by itself.

Laura Owen SutherlandDel went directly from photographing the launch of Apollo 11 to a job involving something summarized as “Atlanta Chicken.” It’s certain that he handled both assignments with the same creative professionalism – and the same wide-open joy in living. Happy Birthday, Del.