Sundown As Contrail (Sunset, Wednesday, 2 March 2011)

William Van Doren, SUNDOWN AS CONTRAIL (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.Almost every cloud in this sunset, with one or two fairly obvious exceptions, seemed to be the remains of a contrail – and then it occurred to me that sunset itself is like a contrail of the day.

Today as I was taking down my show, I had a chance to think about the difference between the paintings I really liked and a few I was not as happy with. I realized something about what I try to do and a certain obligation I have to each sunset. What I felt is that each day asks me to remember it to the future.